Bank apps returning to normal after payday delays for second month in a row

(Sharecast News) - Millions of UK bank customers were reportedly facing issues receiving their wages on Friday, as Nationwide, First Direct, Lloyds, and Halifax experienced online banking issues.

The disruption, which coincided with payday for many Britons, left users unable to make or receive payments.

Nationwide confirmed delays to some incoming and outgoing transactions, but said that direct debits and standing orders were unaffected and "in a queue".

First Direct also reported problems with both its mobile and online banking services.

Lloyds and Halifax acknowledged login issues affecting internet and app banking, while TSB later confirmed "intermittent" service disruptions as well.

The outage marked the second consecutive month of payday-related banking disruptions.

Experts suggested that high transaction volumes at the end of the month were straining digital banking infrastructure, with recurring service failures put down to the increasing complexity of banking technology.

Similar outages affected Barclays, Lloyds, and Halifax in late January and early February, reinforcing concerns over banking system resilience.

Banks were telling customers that their payments would be delayed but otherwise unaffected, with many saying the issues had been fixed by late morning and that they would work through the queue of delayed payments through the day.

By early afternoon, most banks said their systems were back to normal operation, with the exception of TSB, which said some customers were continuing to have "intermittent" issues.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.