Halifax warns as online shopping bug ‘blocks’ payments

Halifax has warned customers about a device setting that could prevent you from making payments. The issue came to light after a customer’s daughter contacted the bank about X, as the man was having issues with their online shopping.

She asked the support team: “When my father pays for items online, he has to verify with his mobile number. It always says they can’t reach him even though it’s the correct mobile number, but he still receives text messages from you guys. Do you have any idea why this is happening?”.

The bank responded: “We can’t verify why this is coming from here, but there could be several reasons. Because it needs to be responded to quickly, it will probably time out if there is a network or signal issue. Is he using our app?”

The woman was bewildered because she was sure his phone was working fine. She replied, “There’s no signal problem and we’ll do it right away, but it just says he’s not answering his phone. He doesn’t have the app, but he does online banking.”

The Halifax team asked for more information to determine the source of the problem. They asked, “So is this when he selects a phone call? If he selects a text, does that work?”

“Since these calls are an automated response, some network privacy protections may prevent automated calls from connecting. Do you know if he has something like that?” The woman said her father normally received text messages, but there was no option to select text messages from his Halifax options, as he could only choose his mobile number.

She mused, “Maybe it’s his mobile provider that’s not allowing this to happen.” Halifax responded that this could be the problem, stating, “Some networks may block certain numbers or the number may have been blocked in the past by mistake. It would be advisable to check with the network provider. I hope your father can get it sorted out.”