Major banks hit by online issues
Some UK customers are suffering online banking problems today.
Nationwide, First Direct, Lloyds and Halifax have all confirmed issues with their online banking systems, and say they’re working to fix them.
Nationwide said in a message on its website that “some incoming and outgoing payments are delayed at the moment”, but that “everything else is working normally”.
It said direct debits and standing orders were working as normal, but that payments were in a queue and would arrive soon, adding that customers did not need to do anything.
Meanwhile, First Direct confirmed on its website that both its mobile and online banking were “experiencing issues with payments”.
There’s also been a rise in problems reported by Lloyds customers, and at its Halifax operation, according to the Downdetector website.
Posting on X, Lloyds says:
We know some of our customers are having issues logging on to internet banking and our app. We’re sorry for this, and we’re working to have everything back to normal.
We know some of our customers are having issues logging on to internet banking and our app. We’re sorry for this and we’re working to have everything back to normal.
— Lloyds (@LloydsBank) February 28, 2025
Key events
Microsoft is shutting down Skype
Over in the technology world, Microsoft is shutting down Skype, the once-pioneering calling and messaging service.
Fourteen years after buying Skype for $8.5bn, in its biggest-ever acquisition, Microsoft is shutting it down and migrating users to its Teams app.
Jeff Teper, president of Microsoft 365 collaborative apps and platforms, told CNBC:
“We’ve learned a lot from Skype over the years that we’ve put into Teams as we’ve evolved teams over the last seven to eight years.
“But we felt like now is the time because we can be simpler for the market, for our customer base, and we can deliver more innovation faster just by being focused on Teams.”
This is the end of an era, really. Skype, which was founded in 2003, was a major player in the voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) world, allowing users to make phone calls for free over the internet.
But the service has dwindled, as MS has prioritised Teams, as was illustrated when Skype didn’t benefit from the surge in demand for video group chats in the pandemic.
January’s surge in US goods imports is the second biggest since 1990, if not earlier, reports Kevin Gordon, senior investment strategist at Charles Schwab.
The only larger increase was in July 2020, early in the Covid-19 pandemic, when there was significant supply chain disruption.
U.S. imports spiked by 11.9% in January, helping blow out the trade deficit to a record … going back to 1990, only one other month saw a larger % gain: July 2020 pic.twitter.com/JCwcW2D9rH
— Kevin Gordon (@KevRGordon) February 28, 2025
Back in the UK, today’s disruption to some online banking services has caught the regulator’s attention.
A spokesperson for the Financial Conduct Authority says
“We’ve been engaging with firms as they resolve these issues and to ensure anyone affected doesn’t lose out.”
Here’s financial analyst Robbert van Batenburg on the “massive” US trade deficit in January:
Massive trade deficit in January. After all the tariffs Trump put in place since 2018 (on $365bl of Chinese imports, tariffs on aluminum, steel, white goods, solar etc) and maintained by Biden, the US trade deficit has continued to widen and reached an all time high last month,… pic.twitter.com/fzYC7ZF0Tu
— Robbert van Batenburg (@RobVanBatenburg) February 28, 2025
US goods trade deficit widens sharply ahead of tariffs
America’s trade deficit in goods has widened sharply in January, amid anxiety about new tariffs making it more expensive to import goods.
The US goods trade gap surged to $153.3bn last month, new data from the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau shows, an increase of $31.2bn compared with December’s $122.0bn deficit.
The increase was driven by a chunky surge in goods imports – which rose by more than 10% in the month to $325.4bn, $34.6bn more than December imports.
US goods exports rose by much less, only up $3.3bn to $172.2bn.
This will do nothing to address Donald Trump’s concerns about the US trade deficit.
But it may be a sign that US businesses have been trying to avoid the president’s new tariffs on goods from China, Mexico and Canada – and possibly Europe too – by buying more from abroad before new levies kick in.
US trade balance hit an ugly $153.3 billion deficit last month as imports surged ahead of #Trump‘s promised tariffs.
Imports rose 12% to $325.4 bn while exports increased 2% to $172.2 bn. pic.twitter.com/KrpS82pM6k— Martin Phillip (@martin_phillip1) February 28, 2025
US PCE inflation rate eases
Over in the United States, an important measure of inflation has eased slightly.
The PCE price index, which tracks the costs of a range of goods and services, slowed to a 2.5% rise in the year to January, down from 2.6% in December.
Core PCE, which excludes the price of food and energy, eased to 2.6% per year – down from 2.9% in the 12 months to December.
US JAN REAL CONSUMER SPENDING -0.5% VS DEC +0.5% (PREV +0.4%)
US JAN YEAR-OVER YEAR PCE PRICE INDEX +2.5% (CONSENSUS +2.5%) VS DEC +2.6% (PREV +2.6%); CORE +2.6% (CONSENSUS +2.6%) VS DEC +2.9% (PREV +2.8%)
US JAN PCE PRICE INDEX EX-FOOD/ENERGY/HOUSING +0.3% VS DEC +0.2%
US…
— PiQ (@PiQSuite) February 28, 2025
PCE is the preferred inflation measure of the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, so this may reassure policymakers that inflationary pressures are easing….
TSB customers who are still struggling to get onto online banking could check out its interactive help guide, here.
GB News makes another loss
In the UK media world, GB News has racked up another annual loss despite a rise in revenues.
The right-leaning TV channel lost £33.4m in theyear to May 2024, an improvement on the £42.3m loss incurred in 2023. That, Press Gazette has calculated, takes its total losses since it launched in 2021 to over £100m.
GB News’s annual report, released today, show that revenues more than doubled last year, from £6.68m to £15.77m.
It can also boast a 53% increase in viewing figures, with its annual monthly reach up to 3.12m continuous views of at least thre minutes, from 2.73m in 2023.
However, that only lifts its ‘average linear share’ of the market, according to BARB audience figures, to 0.69% from 0.45% in 2023.
The report also outlines how GB News champions “robust, balanced debate”, giving a range of perspectives on issues, adding:
Hosts of shows on the channel come from a range of backgrounds and, where a viewpoint is stated, a broad church of opinion, faith, and politics. Presenters include Eamonn Holmes, Stephen Dixon, Anne Diamond, Ellie Costello, Andrew Pierce, Bev Turner, Emily Carver, Tom Harwood, Martin Daubney, Michelle Dewberry, Nigel Farage, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Patrick Christys, Andrew Doyle, Nana Akua, Camilla Tominey and Michael Portillo.
UPDATE: However, Ofcom’s decisions that GB News twice broke impartiality rules during shows hosted by Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg when he was an MP have just been quashed at the High Court today!
In a judgment on Friday, Mrs Justice Collins Rice said the regulator’s decisions were “vitiated by error of law” and that Ofcom “conflated a news programme and a current affairs programme”.
In October, it was fined £100,000 for “breaking due impartiality rules” after an interview with the former prime minister Rishi Sunak earlier this year.
GB News is owned by Paul Marshall, whose hedge fund also suffered a tumble in profits last year:
Today’s problems with various banking apps may have created stress for taxpayers with unpaid self-assessment tax bills, who need to settle with HMRC by 2 March.
Audit, tax and business advisory firm Blick Rothenberg point out that people would face a 5% surcharge if they didn’t settle in time.
Andrew Sanford, a partner at Blick Rothenberg, said:
“The reported inability of Lloyds, TSB and Halifax users to use their banking Apps will cause considerable consternation to customers desperately seeking to make month end payments.”
“Taxpayers who have not paid their self-assessment tax bills will be hit with a 5% surcharge on unpaid if the bill is not settled by 2 March. They may be waiting for payday to settle their liabilities. They will be particularly concerned by this latest banking app failure.”
Fortunately, all but TSB’s banking services appear to be working normally again now…..
We’re now waiting for TSB to catch up with its rivals and get its services working properly too.
TSB’s service status page is still reporting “intermittent” problems with internet and mobile banking, which means some customers are having issues logging in.
Nationwide: Everything is now working normally
The problems at Nationwide appear to be fixed too!
Its status page now reads: Our services are working normally
[It had previously warned of delays to incoming and outgoing payments]
Sorry if you experienced delays making a payment today. Everything is now working normally.
— Nationwide (@AskNationwide) February 28, 2025
Here’s our news story about today’s online banking problems:
Lloyds: Services are working normally again
Mabel Banfield-Nwachi
Lloyds Bank tell us that their app and online banking services are now working as normal for Lloyds, Halifax, and Bank of Scotland customers.
Hi, Debbie. I’m Sue. Everything should be back up and working as normal now.
— Lloyds (@LloydsBank) February 28, 2025
