Nationwide banking app outage leaves thousands unable to access accounts
Service disruption began shortly after 2 p.m. BST on Sept. 9, affecting online and mobile banking across the UK; Nationwide says teams are working to restore services
Nationwide Building Society experienced a widespread outage on Sept. 9 that left thousands of customers unable to access online and mobile banking services, according to customer reports and monitoring site DownDetector.
The outage began shortly after 2 p.m. BST and generated more than 2,000 problem reports, with DownDetector showing about 48% of reports related to online banking, 37% to mobile banking and 15% to checkout failures. Customers in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and Glasgow were among those who reported issues.
Nationwide acknowledged the disruption on social media and said a spokesperson confirmed both the banking app and internet banking were unavailable while teams worked to resolve the problem. The society did not provide an immediate cause for the outage.
Customers posted messages on X and other platforms saying they could not log in and that the app displayed a message indicating technical issues. Some users reported difficulty contacting the society by phone during the incident. Nationwide’s public reply on X said: “The team are working swiftly to get things back to normal as soon as possible.”
Independent monitoring by DownDetector aggregates reports from social media and direct submissions and triggers an incident report when problem reports significantly exceed typical volumes for a given time of day. The exact cause of the Nationwide outage was not confirmed by regulators or the building society at the time of reporting.
Consumer group Which? said banking app outages typically result from IT glitches or maintenance and urged affected customers to seek alternatives if they needed immediate access to funds. Which? retail editor Reena Sewraz warned that outages can have real consequences, particularly on paydays, including missed bill payments, late fees and overdraft charges, and recommended that customers keep evidence of missed payments to support any compensation claims.
Which? advised customers to try branch visits or phone contact if online services are unavailable and to use social media to seek guidance only after ensuring not to disclose account details. The group also recommended that customers contact companies to explain missed payments so charges might be waived.
Financial services regulators require firms to maintain contingency plans for outages, including customer communication and remediation policies, but the specifics of Nationwide’s response and any timetable for reimbursement or compensation were not disclosed in the initial statement. The building society did not immediately respond to requests for further details on the root cause or expected time to full restoration.
The incident follows a pattern of occasional high-profile outages affecting UK banks and large retailers in recent years, which have highlighted the dependence of consumers on digital services and the importance of resilient IT systems. Nationwide customers affected by the disruption were advised to monitor official Nationwide channels for updates and to contact their branch or the relevant billers if they suspect they have incurred charges or penalties as a result of the outage.