'Duplicate' debit card payments glitch hits Barclays customers

Thousands of Barclays customers in Northern England and Scotland have been hit by a glitch in the bank's debit card system which caused a duplication of deducted payments.

While the bank admitted that some accounts have had payments wrongly deducted from their balance, a spokesperson said anyone affected should be reimbursed by the end of the working day Monday (31 October) at the very latest.

"We have detected a small number of duplicated debit card payments this [Monday] morning. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and any affected customers will not be out of pocket," the spokesperson added.

The bank insisted that only a "tiny fraction" of its 15m UK customer account base was affected by the glitch.

Earlier this month, Royal Bank of Scotland, and its Natwest and Ulster Bank subsidiaries, faced severe problems with their debit card payments system in stores and online. However, cash machine and credit card transactions remained "unaffected."