THOUSANDS of Halifax and Lloyds Bank customers were left unable to access account balances on Sunday morning.
There were technical issues with online banking and apps for users according to Downdetector and customer complaints.
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The tech problem affected customers of Halifax, Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland across the country and started at around 10am.
Furious users complained they could not see their account details, including balances, when checking online until the issues was fixed around an hour later.
One Lloyds customer said: “my online banking is saying I have nothing in my current account of savings account, just says NA???!”
Another worried user said: “I’m having N/A displayed on all my internet banking and I need to move money to make a payment today.”
Halifax customers also reported the same issue.
One complained to the bank: “Hi is your banking app not working? Balance shows as N/A and the transaction list shows nothing after March 7.”
Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland are part of the same company, Lloyds Banking Group.
Over 2,000 reports of issues with Lloyds Bank were reported to Downdetector, which monitors website tech issues and outages, and over 1,000 with Halifax.
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Lloyds responded to customers saying the issue should now be fixed.
The bank tweeted: “We’re aware some customers have had issues with online banking and our app. This should now be resolved if you try to log on now.”
Halifax responded to customers with the same message.
It’s not clear what was behind the tech problems and we’ve asked the bank and will update when we hear back.
Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland all have dedicated pages on their websites, which show service problems, including internet banking, mobile apps, ATMs, debit cards and credit cards.
Lloyds Banking Group has over 30 million customers across its brands.
Can you claim compensation for outages?
Unlike telecoms companies, banks do not have a fixed compensation scheme for service disruption.
However, depending on how much it has affected you, you may be entitled to some money back.
It is worth gathering evidence of your problems so you can make a formal complaint to the bank.
Try to make a note of when you were unable to access the website or app, plus any costs you incurred as a result.
If your credit rating has been affected by a service outage, because you got a late payment fee after being unable to make a transaction, for example, you should also keep a record of this.
If you spoke to anyone to try and resolve the problem, make a note of their name and when you spoke to them, as well as roughly what you discussed and what they advised you to do.
You can find out more details about how to complain to Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland on their websites.
If you’re unhappy with how the bank dealt with your problem, you can contact the free Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
It is an independent body which will look at the evidence you present, and make a fair decision about the action a bank should take.
What to do if you can’t access your money
If you can’t access your money and you need to urgently, here’s what to do:
- Visit your local branch as soon as you can.
- If you can’t get there, or it is closed, call your bank and ask for its guidance on what to do.
- If the bank’s phone services are also down or busy, try contacting your bank on social media to ask what to do. But remember: don’t ever share your account details over social media.
- Try to do this on the day the problem arises so you can show you made every attempt to solve the issue.
- If you still can’t access your money, begin gathering evidence for a complaint.
