Santander says it is 'very sorry' as major app outage locks thousands of customers out of their own money

From the Newshound archive · first published 25 September 2026 · last updated 26 September 2026.

Santander's online banking, mobile app and telephone support collapsed simultaneously at around 11.30am on Friday, cutting off UK customers from their funds and blocking transfers, while also leaving them unable to reach the bank by phone. Santander said it was "working hard to restore services as quickly as possible" but offered no explanation for what caused the failure or when it would be resolved. The bank holds around £184 billion in deposits for its 13.6 million active UK customers.

Angry customers took to X to voice their frustration, with some unable to complete urgent transfers and others caught mid-transaction with nowhere to turn.

The simultaneous collapse of online banking, the app and the phone lines left customers entirely cut off, with no available channel to contact the bank.

The disruption has been characterised as 'ANOTHER' blow to customers, implying Santander has experienced a string of service failures in recent times.