Experts have urged bank customers to have a back-up plan after more IT issues hit high street banks – this time HSBC and Tesco Bank.

HSBC’s online banking app failed to work for a period this morning – just as customers wanted to access their August pay cheques.

More than 400 people reported issues with HSBC to DownDetector.co.uk. According to the site, HSBC started having issues at 9.25am with 66 per cent of reports relating to internet banking and 33 per cent to mobile banking.

Complaints varied from error messages, a slow connection, and blank account balance pages.

At 10.07 @HSBC_UK Tweeted: “We’re aware some customers are having problems using Online & Mobile Banking. We’re really sorry and are working hard to fix this. You can check back here for updates or if your query is urgent please call us on 03457 404 404.”

Another Tweet at 11.21am claimed the issues were fixed.

An HSBC spokesperson said: “Routine maintenance led to some customers having difficulty accessing HSBC UK’s online and mobile banking for just over an hour this morning. Telephone banking remained available throughout. We apologise for any inconvenience his may have caused.”

Salman Haqqi, personal finance expert at money.co.uk, said: “They say you should always have a back-up plan – and that goes for your bank account too. I would suggest keeping at least some rainy day money in a second account with another bank so that you’re never caught short if you can’t get your hands on the cash in your main account for whatever reason.

“Every second day over the last year, on average, at least one of the biggest 12 banks experienced some kind of IT issue that took its services offline. With that kind of dodgy track record, it just makes sense to carry a second ATM card in your wallet.”

Problems at Tesco Bank began at 8.26am with more than 130 issues reported to Down Detector, 63 per cent relating to online banking and 34 per cent to mobile banking.

However, Tesco Bank did not Tweet about the issues until 11.41 when @Tescobankhelp Tweeted: “Our online banking, mobile banking app, and Your Insurance Account are currently down – we’re sorry about that. We’re working hard to fix this and will keep you updated on here.”

A Tweet at 12.19pm claimed the issues were fixed but several Twitter uses complained they still couldn’t login to their accounts.

Digital bank Revolut also had some technical problems this morning, causing some card payments and top-ups to fail. It also claims the issues are now fixed.

The IT outages at HSBC, Tesco Bank and Revolut come just days after Natwest and Royal Bank of Scotland customers found themselves unable to use the banks’ websites or online banking for several hours.

Andrew Hagger, founder of Moneycomms, said: “With the seemingly increasing number of bank IT glitches and outages it’s worth people thinking about how they can access funds if their bank account is unavailable for any length of time. A credit card will help in some cases, but having a second bank account as a back-up is a sensible option too.”