Lloyds and Halifax to refund charges after money transfer glitch

Numerous customers of the sister banks, all part of Lloyds Banking Group, couldn't transfer cash yesterday, while some still report problems today.

What's the latest?

Lloyds says most payments out of accounts should have been fixed by 5pm yesterday, although there may have been a "time-lag" stretching into the evening.

But problems remain this morning for some customers expecting money to come into their account, though Lloyds says this should be fixed today.

The Faster Payments scheme allows you to transfer money via phone, internet and standing order within two hours. Lloyds insists all other transfers should have gone through as normal.

Money Saving Expert forum user Bergaspeed said this morning: "I've still not been paid and I'm now well over my overdraft. Hopefully my wages will go in sometime today and not need resending from my boss as he is on holiday for two weeks. I will be speaking to Halifax today to see what it can do."

Meanwhile, ProfJosh contacted us on Twitter earlier today saying: "Payments from NatWest to Halifax and Lloyds from yesterday still not completed."

How do I get charges back?

If a transfer has not gone through, resulting in a charge, Lloyds promises this will be refunded, even if levied by another bank.

Lloyds Banking Group says its customers will have any charges levied as a result of the glitch automatically refunded.

But customers of its rivals will need to contact Lloyds to ask for their money back, if the fee was triggered by a Lloyds-inflicted delay.

If your complaint fails, you can take your claim to the independent Financial Ombudsman Service.

Banking problems

The problem, while on a much smaller scale, echoes those suffered by NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank customers last summer, some of whom couldn't transfer money for up to a month. The RBS Group, which runs all three brands, agreed to refund all charges.

Lloyds customers have also suffered sporadic problems since the RBS fiasco, although all these were resolved quickly.

A Lloyds Banking Group spokeswoman says: "We are aware of an issue that affected some Faster Payments, and apologise to customers affected. All other payment services were unaffected."