Lloyds Bank reveals banking glitch hit almost half a million customers - and some have already been paid compensation

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Lloyds Banking Group has revealed 447,936 Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland customers saw other people's transactions or had their data shared with others due to IT issues on March 12.

The banking giant said 114,182 people clicked on other people's transactions when they became visible.

Jasjyot Singh, consumer relations boss at Lloyds, apologised for the incident on behalf of the bank in a letter disclosing the scope of the issue to Parliament's Treasury Select Committee.

It added customers may have been shown information such as account details, national insurance numbers and payment references.

One customer saw details from six different accounts with the Bank of Scotland app - including national insurance numbers. 

Another said they could see other customers' names along with their salaries and benefits payments. 

The bank has so far paid out £139,000 in compensation to 3,625 customers for distress and inconvenience linked to the incident.

Lloyds Banking Group said up to 447,936 customers saw other people's transactions or had their data shared with others due to an IT glitch on March 12

It said no customers have so far been identified as suffering financial losses as a result.

The letter highlighted that the personal data of individuals who were not customers of Lloyds Banking Group had also been visible.

Lloyds said the incident was caused by a 'software defect' from an overnight IT update.

Dame Meg Hillier, chair of the Treasury Committee, said: 'Modern banking methods mean we can now perform a variety of tasks on our phones in a matter of seconds, and almost anywhere. 

'What this incident brings into focus is the fact that there is a trade-off.

'By moving more interactions with our bank online, we place our faith in technology which can suffer unpredictable errors.'

A Lloyds spokesman said: 'On March 12, some customers using our app may have briefly seen transactions that were not their own following an IT change.

'The issue was quickly identified and resolved, and we've contacted customers whose transactions may have been visible for that short time.'