Lloyds Banking Group has issued payments to customers following a technology fault earlier this month that compromised the personal information of almost 500,000 individuals.

The lender disclosed that as many as 447,936 customers across its Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland brands were affected when others’ financial records became visible or were distributed due to computer system problems on March 12.

Jasjyot Singh, the group’s head of consumer relations, expressed regrets about the occurrence in correspondence sent to Parliament’s Treasury Select Committee, outlining the extent of the matter.

The banking company verified that 114,182 individuals accessed other customers’ financial records that had appeared on their accounts.

The organisation indicated these individuals could have been presented with additional specifics including account information, national insurance numbers and payment details.

The bank has thus far distributed £139,000 in redress to 3,625 customers for upset and trouble stemming from the incident.

It added that no customers have been found to have experienced monetary harm as a consequence.

The correspondence noted that personal information belonging to individuals who were not customers of the Lloyds group was also displayed.

Lloyds attributed the occurrence to a software defect arising from an overnight technology refresh.

Dame Meg Hillier, who chairs the Treasury Committee, said contemporary banking approaches now enable people to carry out numerous operations on their handsets within moments, from virtually any location.

She noted this highlights the reality that a compromise exists.

Shifting greater numbers of banking interactions online means placing trust in technology that can experience unforeseen malfunctions.

A Lloyds spokesperson explained that on March 12, certain customers using their application may have momentarily glimpsed transactions belonging to other individuals following a technology modification.

The problem was promptly detected and corrected, and the company has reached out to customers whose transactions might have been visible during that brief window.

At the time of the occurrence, a Lloyds Banking Group representative told Newsquest that the organisation regretted some customers had encountered a problem viewing transactions in the application for a brief period that morning.

The matter was swiftly resolved and an investigation into the cause was underway.