Viewers tuning into BBC Breakfast on Friday, February 28, were met with an unexpected disruption 

as presenter Charlie Stayt delivered a breaking news announcement regarding widespread online banking issues. 

The news came as a shock to many, particularly those relying on digital banking to access their wages and make payments at the end of the month.

Major Banks Affected by Online Banking Issues

During the broadcast, Charlie Stayt, alongside co-host Naga Munchetty, informed viewers that several major UK banks, 

including Nationwide and First Direct, were experiencing technical difficulties with their online banking systems.

Charlie broke the news, stating, “Just wanting to bring you news of a story that we’re just hearing about. Nationwide and First Direct are saying that some customers may be facing problems with online banking.”

Naga elaborated on the impact of the issue, adding, “Now, it is affecting some incoming and outcoming payments, leaving many without access to funds on payday at the end of the month.”

The timing of the outage, occurring on the last Friday of the month, only intensified concerns, as many people were attempting to check their balances, pay bills, and manage their finances.

Correspondent Ben Boulos Provides Further Insight

BBC correspondent Ben Boulos provided additional details about the developing situation, confirming that Nationwide, First Direct, Lloyds, and Halifax had all acknowledged ongoing technical issues with their banking services.

He explained, “This is the second month in a row that major banks have been hit with some sort of IT issues around payday. The experts are saying that often these systems struggle with the sheer demand on them, the transactions, the number of people trying to log in… Wages going in, bills going out, that sort of thing.”

Reassuring customers who may have been unable to access their accounts, Ben emphasized that the problem was widespread and not limited to individual devices. “If people are, this morning, struggling to log in to any of those banking apps, they’re not alone. It’s not an issue with their own phone or their computer—this is a system issue with the bank apps themselves.”

At the time of the announcement, there was no official statement on the cause of the outage, though concerns were mounting as customers faced delays in accessing their funds.

Surge in Customer Complaints Amid Technical Failures

The disruption was reflected in data from platform outage monitor Downdetector, which recorded thousands of complaints from frustrated customers.

Lloyds Bank saw more than 4,000 reports of issues with its banking app.

Halifax customers submitted around 3,600 complaints about similar problems.

TSB users also faced difficulties, with 900 complaints logged.

Around 600 Bank of Scotland customers reported technical troubles.

These figures highlight the scale of the problem, which affected a broad range of customers relying on digital banking services.

Recurring IT Failures in the Banking Sector

The latest incident follows a similar outage in January, when Barclays customers in the UK faced mobile banking disruptions on payday. Some users were left unable to make transactions for several days, raising serious concerns about the reliability of banking technology.

These repeated IT failures have drawn the attention of the UK Treasury Committee, which has now contacted the heads of nine major banks to demand information about the frequency and impact of these service disruptions on customers.

BBC News Promises Ongoing Coverage

As the situation developed, Ben Boulos assured BBC Breakfast viewers that further updates would be provided throughout the day.

He advised, “It’s worth saying, keep an eye on the BBC News Channel, keep an eye on the app and our website. That story will be followed throughout the day with any updates that people need, they can find them there.”

The outage serves as a reminder of the growing reliance on online banking and the disruptions that technical failures can cause. For many customers, particularly those dependent on digital transactions, such issues can lead to significant financial stress.

With the Treasury Committee now investigating IT failures within the banking sector, questions remain over whether stricter regulations or improved digital infrastructure will be implemented to prevent future outages.

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