A global IT outage has hit several major banks this morning, including Lloyds Bank, Santander and Nationwide Building Society.
Microsoft has confirmed that it is investigating an issue with its services and applications that is impacting businesses around the world.
According to Downdetector, Nationwide, Santander and Nationwide are among the banks and building societies affected by the bug.
The outage appears to have started affecting online services between 7am and 7.20am and continued throughout the morning
The London Stock Exchange confirmed on its website that the disruption was caused by a global third-party technical issue.
Bank customers took to social media to share their frustration at this morning’s events.
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Some services appear to have been affected by global IT issues
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One Scottish Widows customer, part of Lloyds Banking Group, wrote on X: “What’s going on with the technical issues with Scottish Widows this week?
“I can’t speak to anyone, portals not working, valuations not updating and website not working……is this a bit of a joke and nothing is being sent to policyholders to let them know?”
Another Santander customer sent a message to the bank: “Ithere is a problem with Mastercard authentication. I tried to pay my bill online and the confirmation text didn’t come.”
Santander replied: “We are very sorry, Nat. There are currently IT issues across the wider industry which are affecting some of our customers. We are aware of this issue and are currently investigating it.”
Cyber security experts have previously warned how bank customers are at risk from these outages Andrew Martin, CEO and founder of SMEB, says: “The payment outages shed new light on the continued importance of cash and why the move to a cashless society is a bad idea.
“We are seeing an increasing number of businesses across the UK calling themselves ‘cashless’ locations and it makes you wonder how they must cope when technical glitches like this happen and the frustration it must cause their customers.” Fortunately, millions of customers and businesses are still realizing the benefits of cash Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as it used to be.
“The UK has lost 6,000 bank branches since 2015, meaning access to essential financial services such as the ability to withdraw and deposit cash at the end of the day is no longer possible in many areas.
“Now that the UK has chosen its new government, we need it to act to tackle Britain’s banking deserts. Every day we wait, local businesses will suffer.”
Yesterday the Bank of England confirmed it had been affected by the “global payments problem”.
As such, the central bank took the decision to temporarily halt some high-value and time-sensitive payments, including home purchases.
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Lloyds has seen an increase in reports of outages
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A Bank of England spokesman said: “The global payments issue is affecting the bank’s CHAPS service and is delaying some high-value and time-sensitive payments, including some home purchases.
“We are aware of the impact this is likely to have and are working closely with the third party supplier, industry and other authorities to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
“If you are concerned about a CHAPS payment you plan to make or receive today, please contact your bank or other payment service provider.
“Retail payment systems are unaffected, so people and businesses can continue to use cash, card payments and bank transfers as normal.”