Lloyds Banking Group has admitted that a recent IT glitch affected nearly half a million of its customers, revealing that up to 447,936 individuals saw other people's transactions or had their own data shared.

The UK bank compensated some customers with £139,000 in “goodwill payments,” but the incident has raised concerns about online banking’s reliability and security. Committee chair Dame Meg Hillier noted that while convenience comes at a cost, it is crucial for banks to be transparent when issues arise.

Customers affected by the glitch reported feeling traumatised, with one user panicking after seeing transactions that matched their account balances. The root of the issue was traced back to a software defect introduced during an IT change on 12 March.

Lloyds is cooperating with financial regulators and the ICO, promising deeper structural changes rather than surface-level fixes. Tech analyst Paolo Pescatore highlighted the ongoing need for robust systems that safeguard customer trust in digital banking.