Google Cloud Outage Disrupts Revolut Banking Services Across London and the UK
Published: October 20, 2026
A major technical disruption affecting Google Cloud’s London region has interrupted several online services in the United Kingdom, including digital banking features used by Revolut customers. The incident has raised concerns about how heavily financial services depend on cloud computing infrastructure.
The disruption affected Google Cloud’s Europe-west2 region, which is based in London. According to reports published on October 20, several banking applications and online platforms experienced technical problems as Google investigated the issue.
Revolut Customers Face Banking Disruptions
Revolut customers reported difficulties accessing important banking features, including logging into their accounts, making card payments, transferring money and withdrawing cash from ATMs.
The company acknowledged that multiple services were experiencing disruption and said its engineering teams were working to restore normal operations.
Revolut also reassured customers that their money and personal data remained safe. The company apologised for the inconvenience and said it was working to resolve the technical problems.
The disruption highlighted the challenges customers can face when they rely on digital banking applications for everyday payments and access to their money.
What Caused the Google Cloud Outage?
Google Cloud reported elevated error rates and intermittent network failures affecting multiple services in its London-based Europe-west2 region.
The company confirmed that its engineering team was investigating the incident. The precise technical cause and the full extent of the disruption were not immediately clear in the initial reports.
A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that Revolut’s service disruption was linked to the Google Cloud incident.
Cloud computing platforms provide the infrastructure that businesses use to run applications, store information and process digital transactions. When a major cloud region experiences problems, multiple companies using that infrastructure can face interruptions at the same time.
Other UK Banks and Online Services Also Affected
Revolut was not the only company experiencing difficulties. Reports also identified problems involving several UK financial institutions and online services.
These included:
Lloyds Bank: Some customers experienced problems with selected online services.
Halifax: The bank reported issues affecting its app and online banking.
HSBC: Some users reported difficulties accessing services.
Other platforms: Reports also indicated disruption affecting services such as Royal Mail, DPD and Rightmove.
However, it was not immediately confirmed that every reported problem had the same cause. The overall impact varied between companies and services.
Why Cloud Computing Matters for Digital Banking
Modern financial institutions depend on complex technology systems to support account access, payments, transfers and other banking operations. Cloud infrastructure can help companies scale their services and manage large volumes of activity.
However, an outage affecting a critical cloud region can create problems for multiple businesses simultaneously.
For customers, even a temporary interruption can be inconvenient, particularly when they need to pay for purchases, withdraw cash or access their accounts while travelling.
The incident is likely to renew discussions about technology resilience, backup arrangements and the importance of preparing alternative ways to deliver essential financial services.
What Should Revolut Customers Do?
Customers experiencing difficulties should check Revolut’s official service-status updates and follow instructions provided through the company’s verified channels.
If a card payment or transfer fails, customers should check the transaction status before trying again repeatedly, as this can help avoid duplicate attempts or confusion over pending transactions.
Customers should also avoid sharing passwords, one-time verification codes or banking details with anyone claiming to offer an urgent fix. They should use official support channels if they need assistance.
Although Revolut stated that customer funds and data were safe, customers should continue to monitor their account activity and report any unfamiliar transactions through official channels.
What Happens Next?
Google Cloud’s engineering team was investigating the disruption, while affected companies worked to restore their services. At the time of the initial reports on October 20, a confirmed timeline for complete recovery was not available.
The duration and wider impact of the incident depended on the affected infrastructure and the recovery efforts undertaken by the companies involved.
Conclusion
The Google Cloud outage in London disrupted Revolut and coincided with problems affecting other UK banks and online services. The incident demonstrates how dependent modern digital businesses have become on cloud infrastructure. While Revolut reassured customers that their money and data remained safe, the disruption underlined the importance of reliable systems and effective backup arrangements.
Sources: Reuters, Associated Press and Revolut service updates.
