Tesco Bank, a U.K. retail bank, today put a halt to online transactions from current accounts after some customers reported over the weekend money missing from their accounts.
The bank, which has more than seven million customers, told the BBC that 40,000 accounts were accessed and half of which reported missing money.
“While online transactions will not be available, current account customers will still be able to use their cards for cash withdrawals, chip and pin payments, and all existing bill payments and direct debits will continue as normal,” chief executive Benny Higgins said in a statement this morning. “We are working hard to resume normal service on current accounts as soon as possible.”
Higgins said that law enforcement and regulators are investigating; no further details on the attack were released, though Higgins told the BBC he knew what the attack was.
“We can reassure customers that any financial loss as a result of this activity will be resolved fully by Tesco Bank, and we are working to refund accounts that have been subject to fraud as soon as possible,” Higgins said.
Tesco Bank is co-owned by U.K.’s largest supermarket and the Royal Bank of Scotland.
“We apologise for the worry and inconvenience that this has caused for customers, and can only stress that we are taking every step to protect our customers’ accounts,” Higgins said.
Customers, meanwhile, complained loudly on social media about the bank’s responsiveness to the situation.
https://twitter.com/kirstyktweet/status/795368427292594176
This getting more and more farcical. Still no money still no way for my kids to eat in school tomorrow Tesco are beyond a joke
— SamAllenAVFC (@samallen72) November 7, 2016
