Lloyds and Halifax banking apps hit by service outage

Lloyds Bank and Halifax customers have become the latest to be hit by service outages after both confirmed issues with their systems on Monday morning.

Customers of both companies – which are both part of the Lloyds Banking Group – reported issues with their banking apps early on Monday, with users claiming they have had issues making and receiving payments.

The issues come after a major outage hit Barclays on Friday and carried on into the weekend, which the bank said was a “technology issue” and left many customers unable to access funds or make payments.

According to service monitoring website Downdetector, issues for Lloyds and Halifax started at around 7am on Monday morning, with several hundred people reporting issues with the two apps.

Lloyds has not issued a statement confirming the cause of the problem, but the banks have replied to customers raising concerns on social media.

In response to one customer on X, Lloyds said: “We know some customers are having issues making or receiving payments. We’re sorry for this and are working to have everything back to normal.”

Halifax posted an identical reply to customers who made direct complaints to its official account on social media.

In a further reply to one customer later on Monday morning, Lloyds said the issue appeared to be isolated to “receiving payments”.

“Please do not make the payment again. Customers can still use online banking, app and telephone banking as usual. We’re sorry for this and are working to have everything back to normal as soon as possible,” the bank said.

The latest glitches come at a time when many bank branches are poised to close.

Last week, Lloyds Banking Group announced plans to shut 136 more high street branches, as it accelerates plans to cut costs and digitise the bank.

It will close 61 Lloyds, 61 Halifax and 14 Bank of Scotland branches between May this year and March 2026.

The closure plan was announced weeks after Lloyds shook up its branch business to allow customers of Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland to use stores across any of its brands for in-person banking.

Sam Richardson, deputy editor of Which? Money, said last week: “The UK’s bank branch network has been cut to the bone in recent years, often leaving people struggling and having to travel long distances to access cash or banking services.”

Published: by Radio NewsHub