When card payments and banks go down

Last checked 28 October 2026. Based on GOV.UK Be Ready, the Bank of England, the FCA and European central bank advice.

It has already happened

• Visa, 1 June 2018. A hardware fault in a Visa data centre disrupted card payments for about ten hours. In the UK, 2.4 million transactions failed.
• Barclays, end of January 2025. On payday and the tax return deadline, a software fault meant more than half of attempts to make an online payment failed. The disruption lasted days and Barclays paid compensation.
• Nine big UK banks, 2023 to 2025. They told MPs about at least 158 IT incidents in two years, adding up to more than 800 hours of disruption.

None of these was a cyber attack. They were ordinary technical faults, which is why the advice is simply to have a backup.

How much cash to keep

The UK checklist does not set an amount. It says to keep a mix of coins and notes, depending on what your household needs. For a guide, the Dutch central bank suggests €70 per adult and €30 per child to cover 72 hours, and the European Central Bank suggests €70 to €100 per person. A similar amount in pounds is a sensible start.

Build it up slowly, for example by putting change aside, so it does not cost much at once. Do not keep large sums at home.

Also worth doing

• Have more than one way to pay: a physical card as well as your phone or watch, and if you can, an account with a second bank. Finland's central bank advises exactly this.
• Write your bank's phone number on paper.
• Keep the cash somewhere safe and dry, and tell one other person in the household where it is.
• If an outage costs you money, such as a late fee, keep a record and ask your bank to put it right.

Is cash going away?

No. Access to cash is now protected by law, and the Bank of England says it will keep cash available for as long as people want it. Read our check on this claim.