Black hole-in-the-wall at Barclays
Did clocks change cause bank cash machine seize-up?
LONDON, England -- Millions of customers with Barclays Bank in the UK were left unable to withdraw money from cash machines over the Easter holidays as a computer glitch stopped them from accessing their accounts.
The company is examining whether the clocks going forward was responsible for the IT problem which affected users across the south of England.
In what the Daily Mail called "an astonishing blunder," for much of Sunday, customers could not get money from the firm's hole-in-the-wall machines, Link ATMs or use telephone and Internet banking.
Around 1,500 Barclays cash points -- half of its southern network -- were out of order due to the problem, which occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning, said a company spokeswoman.
The firm has about 4,000 cash machines across the UK. Barclays customers were able to use their cards to buy goods in shops or get "cashback" from outlets.
Asked if the problem was due to UK clocks going forward an hour at 1 a.m. on Sunday, for the start of British Summer Time, a company spokeswoman told the UK's Press Association: "Given the timing of this, it's obviously something fairly high on the list, but it would be wrong to speculate until the investigation has been completed."
She added: "There was no impact on security in any way. Accessibility for people to their own accounts (was the problem), not security."
However, the Daily Telegraph said that customer services staff were less ambiguous.
"A manager put the clocks back rather than forward and that has caused enormous problems," one staff member told the paper.
A Barclays spokesman told the Daily Mail: "We do have a problem that relates to the clocks changes but it mainly affects customers whose accounts are in the south of the country."
The malfunction was righted by about 4 p.m. (1500 GMT) Sunday, but Internet banking still remained offline, the spokeswoman told PA.
She added: "We would like to apologize to anyone who was affected and whose plans were affected."
The world's first bank cash dispenser was installed at a branch of Barclays Bank in Enfield, north London, in June 1967, a plaque erected by Enfield Council records.
