Facing issues in online transactions? SBI says 'to come back after a break'

Did you face an issue while processing your online transaction today? Well you should not worry because there are many others that sail with you on this boat today!
State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest public sector bank, is facing technical challenges that disrupted mobile banking services nationwide today. Customers reported difficulties with accessing accounts, fund transfers, and ATM operations. The outages occurred as banks prepared for the new financial year, leading to delays and disruptions in digital transactions during a very crucial period.
According to Downdetector, complaints regarding SBI’s mobile banking surged significantly between 11:00 and 11:30 am IST. Approximately 64% of the complaints were related to mobile banking issues, 33% to fund transfer problems, and 3% related to ATM services. Social media platforms were flooded with users stating their concerns about failed transactions, payment delays, and difficulty to access their accounts. These disruptions caused inconvenience during a hectic financial transition into the new FY 2025-26.
SBI had issued an official statement where the bank explained, “Due to annual closing activities our digital services will be unavailable to our esteemed customers between 1.00 pm to 4.00 pm on 01.04.2025. We request you to use UPI Lite and ATM Channels for uninterrupted services. We apologize for the inconvenience caused.” While the temporary shutdown of services was attributed to audit processes and year-end activities, there has been no confirmation from SBI on the exact cause of the glitches experienced earlier in the day.


Apart from this, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) recently posted on X (formerly Twitter), addressing concerns about intermittent transaction declines faced by some banks due to the financial year-end closure. NPCI assured users that the UPI system remains fully operational and also said that they are collaborating with the affected banks to address the issue.
The post read, “Today due to financial year closing, some of the banks are facing intermittent transaction declines. The UPI system is working fine, and we are working with the concerned banks for necessary redressal.”

One possible factor could be the implementation of new UPI rules, which took effect on April 1, requiring active mobile numbers for transactions. This change may have contributed to the sudden increase in user difficulties. Additionally, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) released a statement acknowledging transaction issues faced by certain banks, adding to the speculation about wider systemic challenges.