Lloyds Banking Group has initiated a probe following reports from some customers of Lloyds, Halifax, and Bank of Scotland who claimed they could access the transactions of other users on their app and online banking platforms.
According to one individual who spoke with the BBC, she was able to view the accounts of six different users on her Bank of Scotland app within a 20-minute timeframe. The transactions she allegedly observed included benefit payments from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) utilizing recipients’ National Insurance numbers as payment references.
Additionally, she mentioned seeing payments from a pub in Newcastle, located 154 miles away from her residence in Kirkcaldy, Fife, as well as payments to Waitrose, despite the absence of a nearby Waitrose store.
Consumer advocate Martin Lewis posted on X that individuals had contacted him regarding viewing transactions belonging to other people. Several users also reported seeing unfamiliar payments before the app reverted to displaying their own transactions.
The total number of affected individuals remains uncertain, considering that Lloyds Banking Group serves approximately 26 million customers. The issue seemed to have surfaced around 7 a.m., with a surge in complaints recorded on the DownDetector outage tracker during that period.
A spokesperson from Lloyds Banking Group expressed regret over the inconvenience experienced by some customers who encountered difficulties viewing transactions on the app briefly. The problem was promptly addressed, and investigations are ongoing to determine the cause.
One woman shared with the Press Association her disconcerting experience of logging into her banking app to discover unfamiliar transactions, expressing a sense of intrusion into someone else’s financial life. The customer, based in Edinburgh, expressed concern over the security of her own information, especially after moving a substantial sum from her mother’s estate into the account.
Encountering unauthorized transactions raised fears of potential security breaches, prompting questions about the integrity of personal financial data displayed on the banking app and eroding trust in the system.