SANTANDER experienced issues with one of its transfer services for a large part of today.

The banking firm specifically had problems with its Faster Payments feature, which allows money to be sent immediately and at the touch of a button.

A customer contacted The Telegraph & Argus about the issue and said it had been ongoing since 7am.

They claimed funds transferred by this method were not being received by recipients but were being debited from the sender account.

A spokesperson for Santander confirmed just after midday some customers were experiencing delays making and receiving Faster Payments.

But this was resolved just after 1pm.

The spokesperson for the bank said: “We experienced an issue with our Faster Payments this morning which is now resolved and payments are being processed.

"We apologise again to all our customers who were affected this morning.

"Customers expecting a payment that still hasn't been received, should contact the sender in the first instance.”

Faster Payments was launched by Santander in 2008 and now more than 85 per cent of phone and online payments are processed via this method.

Payments up to £250,000 can be sent via Faster Payments and beneficiaries usually receive the funds immediately.