The Bank of England has been plunged into chaos as it warns of house buying ‘delays’.
A “global payments issue” has hit the Bank of England’s CHAPS service, one of the largest high-value payment systems in the world.
Both high street banks and international banks use the system to make large payments, with it processing around £350bn a day.
CHAPS can also be used by people spending lots of money – up to millions of pounds – on items such as cars, boats and properties.
The Bank of England has said that the issue is causing delays to high-value and time-sensitive payments, including some house purchases.
“We are mindful of the impact this is likely to have and are working closely with a third-party supplier, industry and other authorities to resolve the issue as promptly as possible,” it says.
It is currently not clear how many payments have been impacted by the issue with CHAPS. Retail payment systems and cash machines have not been affected.
Sky News has reported that a cyber incident has been ruled out by the bank.
Sky business presenter Ian King says it’s not uncommon for CHAPS to experience problems, but the fact that it’s a global issue “does raise one or two eyebrows”.
“The problems usually crop up when one bank or another is experiencing a particularly heavy workload, and that’s when delays can happen,” he says.
“Potentially, it could cause a lot of aggravation for people who are trying to complete on a housing transaction today. It is a big part of the financial plumbing for the financial services industry.”
