Lloyds faces questions over ‘troubling’ banking app glitch that showed other users’ transactions
Lloyds Banking Group faces intense scrutiny from a powerful parliamentary committee last week following a major data breach that allowed some customers to view other users’ financial transactions through their banking apps.
The incident led the Treasury Committee to demand an urgent response from the high street giant.
Treasury Committee chair Dame Meg Hillier has written a formal letter to the group’s chief executive, Charlie Nunn, seeking comprehensive details.
His letter, clearly titled “improper disclosure of individuals’ account information”, requests information on the number of customers affected, expected compensation payments and the precise nature of the sensitive data that has become visible.
Highlighting the seriousness of the situation, Dame Meg said: “On its face, this is a worrying breach of data privacy. In the interest of transparency, I would welcome a range of responses from Lloyds Banking Group regarding this disturbing incident.”
The committee also set a timeline for further clarification. Within a month, Lloyds is expected to provide an initial assessment of whether any customers have been victims of financial crime as a direct result of the information disclosed.
A more detailed statement was requested within six months, including a full explanation of how the incident occurred and the preventive steps taken.
On March 12, some customers using Bank of Scotland, Lloyds and Halifax apps reported that they were able to see information about other people’s accounts through their banking apps.
Customers said they could see transactions unrelated to them, such as direct debits, charges, cash withdrawals and some national insurance numbers associated with payments.
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Last week a woman told the Press Association of her shock when she logged into her banking app and realized she was “looking into someone else’s life”.
Last March, the committee found that nine of the largest banks had experienced at least 33 days of outages in the previous two years.
A spokesman for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said last week it was in contact with Lloyds to understand what happened and how the issue was resolved.
A spokesperson for the FCA has previously said: “We expect firms to protect customer data and be able to respond to and recover quickly from disruptions.”
Lloyds has previously apologized to customers and said it was investigating what happened.
