Google Cloud Outage Disrupts UK Banking Services, Including Revolut, Before Being Restored

Google confirmed that a widespread outage in its cloud infrastructure, which began early Thursday, has been fully resolved after several hours of disruption across a range of UK‑based financial services and websites.

The interruption hit a number of banks and fintech firms that rely on Google Cloud for critical operations. Among the most affected was Revolut, whose customers experienced a sudden loss of access to account balances, transfers and other core banking functions, prompting a surge in support requests and public complaints on social media.

Google’s status page indicated that the outage stemmed from a failure in a core networking component, causing cascading effects on the data centers that host services for multiple clients. The company issued a series of updates throughout the incident, acknowledging the impact on the financial sector and assuring customers that engineers were working around the clock to restore service.

Financial regulators in the United Kingdom, including the Financial Conduct Authority, monitor such incidents closely because prolonged downtime can erode consumer confidence and potentially expose firms to compliance risks. While the outage lasted, some banks reported delayed transaction processing and limited access to online banking portals, though none indicated a breach of customer data.

Industry analysts note that the event underscores the growing dependence of the banking industry on third‑party cloud providers. As more institutions migrate legacy systems to public cloud platforms for scalability and cost efficiency, the resilience of those platforms becomes a strategic concern. The incident is likely to accelerate discussions about redundancy, multi‑cloud strategies, and the need for robust disaster‑recovery plans.

Google has pledged to conduct a post‑mortem analysis and share findings with affected customers. In the meantime, Revolut and other impacted firms have reassured users that services have returned to normal and that they are reviewing internal procedures to mitigate future disruptions. The episode serves as a reminder that even leading technology providers are not immune to technical failures, and that continuous vigilance remains essential for the stability of digital financial services.