Warning as card users UK-wide charged twice last Wednesday – check NOW

Cardnet, a payment service system run by Lloyds and card processor First Data, says it is aware of a problem with transactions made on some payment terminals on Wednesday 29 August, which resulted in some customers being debited twice for transactions. 

It says the issue was only for a "period" of Wednesday and affected less than 5% of transactions – but this is still thought to be thousands of customers.

Although the system is partly run by Lloyds, as the problem was with the terminals themselves it seems it wasn't limited to Lloyds' customers as we've seen tweets from people who use other banks too. 

The Cardnet system handles 1.1 billion transactions a year for a range of businesses including shops and restaurants – so the only way to know whether or not you have been affected is to check your statement.

But it says it anticipates that refunds to cardholders that were charged twice will be paid by tomorrow.

What are customers saying?

Several confused customers have taken to social media over the past few days after noticing duplicate charges on their accounts:

'When we rely on such technology it is not good enough'

MoneySavingExpert deputy editor Guy Anker said: "The message is very simple – if you made a card transaction last Wednesday check your bank or credit card statement to be on the safe side, and if you have been charged twice and have not been refunded by Tuesday then ask your bank, building society or card firm for a refund.

"This is yet another banking IT failure, and in an age when we rely on such technology to conduct fairly straightforward tasks such as paying for a meal or clothes it is simply not good enough."

How to check if you're affected – and what to do if you are

The easiest way to check if you're affected is to look at your transactions from last week.

If you made a purchase on Wednesday 29 August, check if the payment has gone out of your account again.

Cardnet says that affected cardholders will be refunded by tomorrow (4 September) but if there are any problems you should contact your bank. 

If the issue has caused problems – for example, if you've been unable to pay bills, or have gone into an unarranged overdraft – itemise and keep evidence of them. Again Cardnet says you will need to contact your bank about these. 

A Lloyds Banking Group spokesperson said: "A small number of transactions processed last Thursday by Cardnet were duplicated. Action has been taken to rectify this situation as quickly as possible, and we apologise for any inconvenience caused."