Banks are encouraging people to update their smartphones or risk losing access to their money. It comes as many branches are closing across the UK forcing more and more people to use online or app-based banking.
But this is only available to those with an iPhone no older than the 6S model which came out less than 10 years ago. Further updates could mean that this changes in the future.
Martyn James, consumer expert, told The Sun: “One of the forgotten consequences of the rush to move our banking online is the tyranny of the software update. Many of us hold on to our older Apple phones because we don’t want to fork out upwards of £1,000 for a new model.
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“Yet, this means we can’t download the latest software updates, which means we can’t gain access to our basic banking facilities.” This may impact older customers the most as they do not have the need or money to get a new iPhone, experts have warned.
Lloyds Banking Group said it would close up to 60 branches because it said customers were choosing to bank online. It is closing 28 Lloyds Bank branches while 17 Halifax locations will shutter and 15 Bank of Scotland branches.
The lender said 19million customers now use its banking apps. Natwest Group plans to close a total of 98 stores this year, including 20 Royal Bank of Scotland sites and 10 Ulster Bank locations.
Santander has closed over 470 locations over the last nine years. The bank asks consumers to have at least an iPhone SE to use its online banking app.
Lloyds, HSBC and Nationwide require customers to have a device which supports IOS 14. This means customers need to own at least an iPhone 6, which came out in 2014.
Barclays requires customers to have a device which supports IOS 15 and above, which also requires users to have an iPhone 6S or above, which was released in late 2015.
A Barclays spokesperson said: “We are constantly evaluating and enhancing our mobile banking app experience.
“As part of this process, and to ensure our customers have the most up-to-date security and features, users have to be running Android 8.0 and above or iOS 15 and above to access our banking app.”
“Customers using older operating systems are still able to access full services via online banking.”
A spokesperson for Nationwide said: “We know people want choice in how they bank, that is why we updated our banking app and we are investing in our branch network, everywhere we have a branch we will remain there until at least the start of 2028.”
