Nationwide Building Society has temporarily suspended inbound payments due to extremely high volumes of transactions on the first working day of the year, as revealed on Downdetector.
According to Downdetector, the online platform that delivers real-time information on the status of various websites and services, the issues began in the early hours of Tuesday January 4, reaching the highest number of reported issues at 9:53 GMT. It appears the reported delays have persisted throughout the day.
In a statement on Twitter, the bank said: “We’re sorry, due to [the] volume of inbound payments today, we have taken the decision to queue those while we resolve the issue. All payments will be processed as soon as possible.”
Customers are still able to use their cards, access the Internet Bank and Banking App and withdraw cash from ATMs. On its website, Nationwide explained that customers waiting for an inbound payment do not need to do anything, it will arrive “ASAP”. Direct debits and standing orders are working normally.
This is not the first time Nationwide has had to apologise to its customers. At the end of December, the bank experienced a payments glitch, which affected last minute Christmas shoppers and salary payments.
The delay is causing quite serious issues for some customers. One concerned customer, Rob, explained in a Tweet that the payment issues have delayed his salary, while his direct debits continued, resulting in him being put into his overdraft. However, the bank reassured him that he will not receive any extra charges as a result of this.
Amongst those who have taken to twitter and other social media, it seems there are growing concerns this has become a reoccurring issue with the bank. One twitter thread revealed how numerous customers had “had enough” and were threatening to move banks.
Nationwide is not the only bank struggling with payment issues this holiday period. Santander is attempting to regain £130m after the bank sent out payments by accident to 75,000 accounts on Christmas Day.
These issues come at a time when the customer experience is becoming increasingly important. Customers are demanding more from their financial service providers, including more personalised and convenient services, as well as better support when things go wrong.
As such, companies are prioritising their customer experience strategies. A report by the Economist Intelligence Unit, which surveyed 305 senior banking executives, revealed that their top strategic priorities were all customer-focused – with improving customer experience and engagement, including personalisation and intimacy, seen as the most important strategic priority by 30%.
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