Thousands of HSBC customers were locked out of their accounts for over five hours on 27 August 2025, raising the question: Is the UK overly-reliant on banking apps?
The outage began at around 11:00 BST, affecting both the HSBC mobile app and desktop online banking. Reports flooded Downdetector within minutes, as users across the UK were unable to check balances, transfer funds, or access their accounts at all. The disruption, which lasted until late afternoon, occurred at a time when physical branches are becoming increasingly scarce.
