Lloyds Banking Group customers criticised the group after cards were rejected and they were unable to withdraw money from cash machines.

Lloyds has ­apologised after some of its account-holders found themselves without a method of payment. The issue affected those banking with Halifax, Bank of Scotland and TSB.

Many customers vented their anger on social networking sites. A spokeswoman for Lloyds Banking Group, which covers the four brands, said: "We apologise that between 3pm and 6pm some customers were unable to complete their debit card transactions. Although the majority of transactions were unaffected, we are very sorry for the inconvenience that this will have caused. At the same time, some customers encountered problems at approximately half of our 7000 ATMs. This was resolved by 7.30pm."

It is the latest glitch to affect banks in the UK. Last month RBS and NatWest customers had cards declined on the busiest online shopping day of the year.