Blurred buses pass the Bank of England in the City of London on 7th February 2024 in London, United Kingdom.
Mike Kemp | In Pictures | Getty Images
The Bank of England said on Thursday that a “global payments issue” was affecting the interbank payments service CHAPS, delaying some 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 said in a statement.
Retail payment systems and cash machines were unaffected, the BoE added.
The CHAPS system – which is operated by the BoE – has suffered technical problems before, including in August last year and in 2014 when the Real-Time Gross Settlement system, which underpins CHAPS, did not work normally for several hours.