Customers of a number of well-known British banks unexpectedly got the blockchain experience today after a glitch in the banking app caused their transactions and accounts to become public.
The technical issue allowed customers of Lloyds, Halifax and the Bank of Scotland to view the banking activities of other users.
Some were able to see chargeback notifications from others’ accounts, while some reported being able to view others’ Social Security numbers.
The BBC reports that some were able to view other users’ accounts for 20 minutes, while one person was able to view benefits from the Department of Work and Pensions.
Read more: UK government committee calls for halt to crypto donations amid fears of foreign interference
One user claimed: “I can see someone else’s bank account. He paid £6,000 yesterday. Others can see their benefits, their national insurance numbers, I can see where they work, almost their entire identity.”
The issue has reportedly been resolved and an investigation has been launched, but it is unclear how many people were affected by the outage.
Lloyds apologized for the incident, while Bank of Scotland said it may have been caused by a ‘technical issue’.
Last year, Britain suffered a major banking outage that left thousands without access to their accounts. A report by the Finance Ministry committee later showed that the country had suffered a month of disruptions in two years.
Glitch is the British bank that has come closest to the blockchain
The hiccup brought a brief taste of blockchain to a British banking sector known for being slow to adopt the technology.
Many still categorize crypto as a risky, volatile asset that requires enhanced controls.
Digital crypto-friendly bank Revolut has just secured a UK banking license after a four-year wait for a license.
However, the crypto services will reportedly not fall under this banking license and will still have to be offered via the Revolut X platform.
Last September, Britain and the US teamed up to create a regulatory body that would help align each country’s approach to crypto, and help companies more easily access capital markets from each country.
However, Reuters reports that both the US and UK are still divided on crypto regulation, with Britain taking a more reserved approach.
The US was reportedly unimpressed by the UK’s “sandbox” approach, which involves testing tokenised securities in a controlled environment.