An IT problem at HSBC has affected some 275,000 Bacs payments and left thousands of customers without their monthly salaries just before a bank holiday.
The problem emerged on Friday morning when HSBC customers checking their current accounts in anticipation of an extended August weekend found they were missing their monthly pay packets.
The bank says that the problem has affected around 275,000 Bacs payments. Bacs is the system used by all UK banks for fund transfers and which processes more than £50 billion in daily transactions.
By the afternoon, HSBC was claiming that the "majority" of payments would go through today, with the rest processed overnight.
In a statement, Bacs says: "Bacs is aware of an isolated issue that has affected one of its member organisations. The Bacs system is operating as normal and we are currently working with our partners to help them resolve this as quickly as possible."
HSBC has apologised for the inconvenience and promised to resolve the issue but has not been able to say how long this resolution may take. Customers have been directed to the bank's Twitter account at HSBC_Help_UK for the latest updates. Unsurprisingly, the majority of them have instead vented their frustration.