To be so bloody angry this can happen in this day and age

[workiskillingme]

My bank has been down all night and all morning until now. Cannot access the app and they aren't able to credit any payments . Cards aren't working either. I literally have no money to buy a darn thing and need bread and baby milk etc
It's 2022 ffs!

I love it when shops bring out the old ricrac machines - who knows what I am talking about

It's always a bad idea to put all your eggs in one basket. I realise it's not possible for everyone, but anybody who can afford to should mitigate the risk as much as possible as it's inevitable electronic systems will fail from time to time.

Obvious ways to reduce the risk are to have a credit card with a different provider than your bank (preferably a Mastercard one if your bank is Visa) and to keep a bit of cash stashed away at home. If you live somewhere where you can sell gold easily it's a good idea to have a small amount of gold bullion because you won't normally be able to spend it but it can be converted to cash when needed.

I always have cash on me and bit at home just in case of any problems with cards etc.

I second the recommendation to have a credit card with a separate bank, even if just for emergencies and to also have cash in the house. I like to keep between £30 and £50 just in case.

BTW which bank is it?

We’ll school dinners- just tell the school about the issue. They aren’t going to not feed children. And asks friend to borrow some cash until the issue is sorted.

I think unfortunately an emergency 5 or 10 isn't going to get you far these days.

I hope you can sort something out, OP. Technology is great when it works...

Has anybody read The Handmaid's Tale? All it takes is for Them (whoever Them is ) to flick a switch and you have lost your money.
Be warned, people!

Which one?

Do you mean the device where you put the slips in and run it over the credit card ?

As so one who's worked for one of the "big banks" (the one which though it was a good idea to launch a "By Your Side" campaign during a pandemic!), it comes down to "tech" being out of control, and complete mismanagement from the so-called "Senior Leaders", who are more concerned with building their own empires. Over the last 5-10 years, there's more and more reliance on offshore resourcing, and a complete misunderstanding of what "knowledge" means. Systems are failing regularly, and it's only going to get worse. We should get used to these "outages", as they're going to become a lot more common.

It was hardly going to happen in the seventies was it? Tech fails. It's shit when it does but it's no one's fault. I doubt they're all sitting around twiddling their thumbs over it.

It is scary.
Which bank is it OP? Haven't seen any news about this.

We keep a little cash in the house.
It's good advice to have more than one bank with a bit of money in it. We only bank with one bank (apart from a credit card which sits about doing nothing. I guess we'd have to use that if our bank went tits up).

It's really bad! Our app for our business banking is down constantly, as is their online banking through a browser, and it's so frustrating! Especially when you've got clients calling and asking if their payment has gone through or you've got contractors that need paying!

Do you have a Nectar card or Tesco card or any other loyalty card with points on it?

Oh wow i'd forgotten all about them! Surely there's none of those still being used!? With the messy carbon copy slip things. Last used one of those working in Carvella about 1992!

Another here who always has emergency cash, good point about the different provider of a credit card so will do this also.

As others have said it is wise to spread the risk in these days.

Everyone saying ‘this is why I always keep some cash in the house’ are not being terribly helpful, just appear boastful about their own financial aplomb.

I never have cash because the advent of technology in banking means not only do I never venture near a cash point, I’m not sure I could recall my PIN if I did.

The cash free society. It's all so EASY and convenient.
Until it isn't. And then it's a fucking nightmare.

Like most things which are labelled easy or simple, when it goes wrong it goes wrong big time!

Herejustforthisone · Today 14:34

Everyone saying ‘this is why I always keep some cash in the house’ are not being terribly helpful, just appear boastful about their own financial aplomb.

What my 20 quid?* *😂 So much aplomb!

No one has said they keep hundreds laying around have they? It's good advice to bung a couple of tenners in a drawer just in case. If anyone reads this and goes on to do it and it helps one day then good. Why would anyone not say that in case of offending anyone?

I didn't think they were able to use them anymore.

For the immediate - do you have any loyalty card points you could use for bread, milk etc. Pretty miserable way to use them but might get you sorted for now at least.

For the future - keep a bit of cash and also open another bank account and transfer some money into it. Something like Monzo is really easy to open and you can do it without leaving the house as long as you have a passport (or a driving licence might work). If you don't plan to use it often though set up a small standing order into it just to keep the account active.

I'm not trying to be boastful and the reason for my financial "aplomb" is due to being old and having learned the hard way that it's good to have some emergency backup in the form of cash. I was just trying to pass on that learned experience.

And BTW I have also learned the hard way that it's a good idea to save your PINs for credit and debit cards in your phone, disguised obviously as a legit telephone number.

@Herejustforthisone If you can't remember you PIN, I hope you never need to spend £100 + in the shops

People laugh at me when I say cash is king.
But theyare not laughing when they can't get access to their money

Apple Pay has a £45,000 limit.