For the second time in 2025, UK banking apps have faced major technical disruptions on payday, leaving thousands of customers struggling to access their accounts. On Friday morning, users of Lloyds Bank, Halifax, TSB, and Bank of Scotland reported widespread outages, preventing them from making critical transactions.
According to outage monitoring platform Downdetector, a surge in complaints began early in the day, with customers voicing their frustration across social media. Some reported being unable to pay employees, while others faced difficulties completing essential transactions.
Banks Apologize as Services Resume
Lloyds Banking Group, which operates Lloyds Bank, Halifax, and Bank of Scotland, later confirmed that the issues had been resolved and that digital banking services were functioning normally. However, the disruption on such a crucial financial day has left many questioning the reliability of mobile banking.
This follows a similar incident in January when Barclays customers were hit by an app outage that lasted several days, leaving some unable to pay for necessities. The recurring nature of these IT failures has led to increased scrutiny from financial regulators and government bodies.
Consumer Advocates Warn of Financial Disruptions
Retail and consumer rights experts have raised alarms over the serious consequences of these digital banking failures. Reena Sewraz, retail editor at Which?, emphasized that missing bill payments, overdraft charges, and financial insecurity are just some of the challenges customers face when banking apps fail at critical moments.
Social media platforms have been flooded with complaints from frustrated users. One Lloyds Bank customer on X (formerly Twitter) reported being unable to transfer funds, adding that their new bank card lacked a customer service phone number. Another user expressed regret about switching banks after experiencing similar issues with Barclays in January.
Calls for Stronger Banking Infrastructure
The recent failures have reignited concerns over the UK’s increasing reliance on mobile and online banking. With many high street banks closing branches, critics argue that customers are being forced into digital banking without adequate contingency plans in place.
Martin Quinn, director of the advocacy group Campaign for Cash, believes the latest outage highlights the urgent need for a more resilient banking network. “This proves that now more than ever, a strong bank branch network is essential. When outages happen, people need access to face-to-face banking,” he told the BBC.
Disability rights groups have echoed these concerns, urging banks and regulators to ensure that access to physical cash remains a priority.
Experts Warn of Aging IT Systems in Banking
Cybersecurity and financial technology experts suggest that outdated IT infrastructure is a major contributing factor to these disruptions. Patrick Burgess of the Chartered Institute for IT noted that high street banks still rely on legacy systems that struggle to cope with high-traffic periods like payday.
Professor Markos Zachariadis, chair of financial technology at the University of Manchester, warned that such outages could have broader economic repercussions. “If financial institutions cannot keep pace with demand or deal with technical issues efficiently, the economy will suffer at a high cost,” he explained.
The Treasury Committee has recently written to nine major banks, requesting details about the frequency and impact of IT failures. The growing concern is that these repeated disruptions could lead to declining consumer trust in traditional banks.
Shilpa Doreswamy, an expert at GFT Technologies, believes that unless banks modernize their IT systems urgently, they risk losing not just consumer confidence but also their customer base. “It is becoming imperative for incumbent banks to upgrade their infrastructure or continue facing an accelerating loss of trust – and perhaps customers too,” she said.
