Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland customers unable to access accounts for hours after online banking goes down
FURIOUS customers have been unable to access their accounts with Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland's after internet banking and apps went down.
Thousands of users reported major technical issues which left them unable to login for hours and some unable to make essential payments.
According to Down Detector reports of issues started just after 10am today (July 19) but is now resolved, with online banking and apps back up and running by around 2.30pm.
One user commented they could not log on to move money and branded it "a disgrace" while another said it was "disappointing" as a long term user.
Customers also took to Twitter to complain they could not access banking online through much of the day with any of the three banks, which are owned by the same company.
One user said: "I've tried accessing via multiple devices and it won't let me in."
Another tweeted at the bank: "Is the system down? I can not pay for anything or look in account".
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.
Essential services through online banking include checking account balances and making bank transfers to pay bills and other payments.
A spokesperson for Lloyds Banking Group, which owns the three banks, said: “Customers can now log in through their app and on internet banking as normal.
"We're sorry some of our customers had issues with this earlier today.”
According to Lloyds Bank's service status page which keeps customers updated about issues, the bank's internet banking and mobile app were both "working normally" and there was no planned maintenance work.
Service pages for Halifax and Bank of Scotland also said the same thing, despite customers' complaints.
Down Detector shows more than 1,000 reports of issues for Lloyds Bank and Halifax at the height of the problem.
Lloyds Bank initially replied to users experiencing issues on Twitter, suggesting they try closing down everything then logging in again.
Halifax Bank suggested to some users on the social media site that they use a different browser or device to try and resolve the issue, as well a resetting or changing the internet connection.
But many bank account holders said this did not solve the issue for them.
Lloyds Bank and Halifax customer service on Twitter then told users that there were "technical issues affecting users intermittently" and to keep trying.
Customers were left unable to make payments without access to their accounts for hours.
A user said "I've tried logging in several times and have restarted my app and phone several times. I have an urgent payment!"
And another Lloyds customer said: "I keep getting a 'failed to open' message and my veg box guys are waiting to get paid."
A third said "I've just had to tell my gardener I can't pay him unless he has an alternative like PayPal and I can't pay my other bills either."
It appears that the outage affected payments made via bank transfer using the website and app because users could not access them.
Payments in shops using Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland debit and credit cards do not appear to have been affected by the issues.
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