HSBC is DOWN leaving thousands of customers without access to online banking

THOUSANDS of customers at a major bank are locked out of online banking.

Access to HSBC online banking is down, according to customers who have complained on social media.

Hundreds of HSBC customers said that they are unable to access online bankingCredit: Rex

Problems started shortly after 8am, according to Downdetector which logs outages.

One person on Twitter said: “Is anyone else having issues with online banking this morning?

“Can log in fine but after selecting an account it gets stuck on loading then error message GBB-LON-1266. Seen other posts with the same issue.”

Two others were quick to respond to say that they are having issues with their accounts.

Another customer said: “HSBC business banking is down yet again.”

“I'm struggling to get online via my PC. Do you have a problem? I can't get past security as it keeps bouncing me back to the start page.

“Says currently unable to deal with the request,” said a third customer.

We've contacted HSBC to find out when it expects this issue to be fixed.

Can I claim compensation for an outage?

Banks aren't obliged to pay compensation to customers if there's been an outage or if they've experienced technical issues.

But you might be entitled to some money back depending on how much the disruption affected you.

You'll have to present evidence of how the outage negatively affected you, including any extra costs incurred through possible late payment fees.

You should make a note of when you were unable to access the services and the names of the people you spoke to at the company that suffered the outage.

You can find more detail about how to complain to Santander on its website.

If your bank doesn't resolve any complaint, you can take your case up with the Financial Ombudsman Service.

It is an independent body which will resolve any issues based on what it thinks is “fair and reasonable” depending on the circumstances of the case.

The service can resolve your issue over the phone, by email or by post depending on what best suits you.

In the case of an IT system outage at a bank, the FOS says any compensation you may receive will be dependent on your circumstances and whether you lost any money as a result.

If it finds the bank was at fault, you may see any fees, charges or fines reimbursed.