HSBC has apologised after customers were left unable to access online banking or use its app in the UK, preventing some from accessing their accounts.

Thousands of people have reported problems on outage-checking site Downdetector since the issues first emerged at 11:00 BST on Wednesday.

According to HSBC’s service status website, customers can still access their accounts by phone and in-person, and card payments are unaffected.

“We’re really sorry and are investigating as a matter of urgency,” the bank said in a post on X.

The BBC has approached HSBC for comment.

Customers have taken to social media to complain about the impact the outage is having on them.

One person said it was “very worrying”, with others complaining it comes amid bank branches being closed in the UK in the past few years.

In 2022, HSBC announced the closure of 114 branches in the UK. It later promised not to close any more branches until 2026.

The firm has not given a timeframe for how long the problem will take to fix, but said it was “working hard” to resolve it.