The bank was also recently affected by a major IT glitch
Lloyds Bank has explained its procedures following concerns about the possibility of duplicate payments being taken from customer accounts. This comes after the bank experienced a separate major technical fault where customers were able to view other people’s transactions.
A person reached out to the bank via social media after spotting a problem with their account. Posting on March 19, they explained that a “double” direct debit payment had been taken from their account. The customer explained the initial amount had been debited on March 17 as scheduled, but then a second payment was withdrawn the following day, on March 18. The bewildered customer said: “This has never happened to myself before.” In reply, Lloyds confirmed this is not the normal procedure.
The bank said: “I’m sorry a double direct debit was taken – that shouldn’t happen.” Information on the Lloyds website sets out that if you’re using the app and wish to challenge a payment from your account, you can do this by locating the transaction and choosing ‘Help with this transaction’.
‘Please message us’
When you click on this, on-screen instructions will appear to walk you through the procedure. In their communication with the customer, Lloyds put forward one possible explanation for the inconsistency.
The banking giant said: “Sometimes a payment can retry the next day if the first attempt didn’t fully go through. Please message us through the mobile banking app, so we can check both payments and sort this for you.”
Meanwhile, the bank recently was hit by a concerning online glitch where app users were able to view other people’s account details, including their balance and transactions. Lloyds said in an update posted on social media after the incident: “On 12 March, a limited number of customers using our app may have briefly seen transactions that weren’t theirs due to an internal IT change.
“We’re very sorry this happened. No action is needed and there was no account security issue. We’ve identified the affected customers and will contact them to provide further information.”
An unusual situation
Following the incident, technology experts at comparison site The Business Hub have encouraged UK bank customers to remain vigilant and to think about how best to protect their data personally.
Andy Pickett, chief technology officer, said: “While it hasn’t officially been confirmed as a breach yet, it likely will be. This is quite an unusual situation at this scale for a bank.
“While identity fraud and cyber attacks typically come from external sources, banks are usually very methodical in their app and online platform development.” Mr Pickett highlighted one crucial thing you should never do.
He warned: “You should never continue a phone conversation if contacted directly by a bank or lender. Instead, you should hang up and call back using the official number listed on the bank’s website.
“AI-driven phone calls, video impersonation, and voice cloning are the latest wave of attacks, so it’s critical that people stay informed and share knowledge of these threats.”
