A disruption at Google Cloud’s operations in the UK on 20 October 2026 affected the websites and mobile apps of several banks, financial services firms, and public service providers in the region, according to Reuters. Google said its engineering team was investigating the issue, which affected its europe-west2 data centre region, designed primarily for customers in the UK and Ireland. The company did not immediately provide further details.
Revolut and other banks report service problems
UK-based digital bank Revolut experienced a service outage linked to the Google Cloud disruption, according to a person familiar with the matter cited by Reuters. Revolut’s status page showed that most of its services were unavailable or only partially available, including card payments and ATM withdrawals. In a post on X, the company confirmed a disruption affecting multiple services and said customers’ funds and data remained safe.
Other institutions reported problems on the same day, although a link to the Google Cloud incident was not confirmed in every case. ING Germany said customers were having difficulty logging into online banking and its banking app due to a technical issue. UK-based Halifax said customers were facing problems online and with its app. Lloyds Bank said its app was operating normally, but some customers were experiencing issues with certain online services.
Outage tracking platform Downdetector also showed a small number of user reports in the UK relating to Lloyds Bank, HSBC, Bank of Scotland, property website Rightmove, parcel delivery service DPD, NHS England, and Royal Mail. Downdetector compiles status reports from several sources, including users, so the actual impact may differ from what its data suggests. HSBC, Rightmove, DPD, NHS England and Royal Mail did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the cause.
Third-party risk under regulatory oversight
The incident comes as European regulators have shown growing concern over the financial sector’s reliance on external technology providers, including cloud computing services that support critical banking operations.
In July 2026, the UK designated four technology companies, including Google Cloud EMEA Limited, as critical third-party suppliers to its financial sector. The designation placed them under direct regulatory oversight. In the EU, Google Cloud was among 19 technology companies that regulators designated in November 2025 as critical third-party computing providers on which the bloc’s finance industry depends.
