Santander app goes down: What to do if outage costs you money

Santander customers have been locked out of their accounts after a major outage hit the bank's app and online services across the UK on Friday.

Problems began at around 11.30 a.m., with customers reporting they couldn't log into mobile or online banking. But it wasn't just the app.

Santander confirmed its telephone and chat support were also affected, leaving some customers with few ways to access help. The bank apologised and said it was working to restore services, but has not said what caused the outage or when everything will be back to normal.

For customers waiting to move money before a bill goes out, that creates another problem.

What happens if the outage actually costs you money?

A banking outage doesn't automatically mean customers will receive compensation. But if you suffer a financial loss because Santander's systems were unavailable, it is worth keeping evidence of what happened.

That could include a late-payment charge after you couldn't transfer money, additional interest or another fee directly linked to the outage. Take screenshots of error messages and keep records of payments you tried to make.

If you contact Santander, note when you did so and what response you received. Those details could matter if you later make a complaint.

Friday's disruption isn't Santander's first recent technology problem. The bank's own figures show it reported 33 major operational or security incidents to the Financial Conduct Authority in the 12 months to June 2026.

Ten affected mobile banking and 17 affected internet banking. 

For now, customers should also be careful about another problem that tends to follow major banking outages: scams. Unexpected texts or calls offering to “restore” access to your account shouldn't be trusted simply because Santander happens to be experiencing genuine technical problems.