A power-related outage affecting Google Cloud’s London-based infrastructure disrupted banking services and several online platforms on 20 October, highlighting the risks businesses face when they depend on major cloud service providers.
The incident affected services used by financial institutions, including Revolut, Lloyds and HSBC, with customers reporting difficulties accessing banking applications, making payments and withdrawing cash. Google attributed the disruption to a power event in its European cloud region and said services had been restored for most affected customers.
The incident has renewed concerns about the dependence of financial institutions and IT companies on shared cloud infrastructure. A disruption affecting one critical technology provider can cascade through connected applications, payment systems, authentication services and business operations.
For South African financial institutions and IT companies, the incident serves as a reminder to review disaster recovery plans, maintain reliable backups and consider alternative infrastructure arrangements.
However, the available reporting does not establish that South African banks or IT companies experienced direct disruption from this particular incident. Its impact on South African organisations would depend on whether their systems relied on the affected Google Cloud infrastructure.
As digital services become increasingly interconnected, cloud resilience and business continuity remain important priorities for the financial and technology sectors.
Source: Reuters reporting and Google Cloud’s service-status information, 20–21 October 2026.