Money blog: Payday chaos as major banks confirm issues with apps and online banking

Third of nurses 'yet to receive pay rise agreed last year'

Some GP surgery nurses are yet to receive their promised pay rises, according to a trade union. 

The Royal College of Nursing said nurses working "at the front door to the NHS" are being "repeatedly failed when it comes to their pay".

Last year the government agreed to uplift GP pay by 6%, but the RCN said 30% of their nurses in GP surgeries were yet to see that reflected in their payslips. 

Meanwhile, 45% of the 1,600 general practice nursing staff said they received an increase of less than 6%.

Just 21% said they had received a 6% uplift or more.

Almost one in 20 (4.4%) said they were still waiting for confirmation of their pay uplift for 2024-25.

House prices rise for sixth month in a row - but change could be coming

House prices have risen for the sixth month in a row.

Property values rose by 0.4% month-on-month in February, taking the average house price to £270,493, Nationwide said, adding that house prices increased by 3.9% annually.

That's good news for sellers, but looming stamp duty changes could dampen the market, according to the building society's index.

From 1 April, stamp duty taxes now kick in on property purchases worth £125,000 or more - halved from the previous threshold of £250,000.

The nil rate threshold for first time buyers which is currently £425,000 will also fall, returning to the previous level of £300,000. 

That means more buyers will have to pay more tax on purchases - read about how that may affect the market here... 

Asia bearing brunt of Trump's trade war threats

It's Friday but all a bit gloomy out there - and not just for the thousands of us affected by banking outages.

Those pesky global trade war fears are back and dominating sentiment across financial markets this morning.

It's after Donald Trump said his proposed 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods - delayed by a month - would take effect on 4 March as planned, alongside an extra 10% duty on Chinese imports.

We also learned this week that the EU will be hit "very soon" with 25% duties on all goods, but that the UK might be spared as talks on a trade deal resume.

The prospect of hits to global output from a trade war have seen stocks fall sharply in Asia overnight.

It's a little calmer in Europe where the FTSE 100 opened 0.4% down.

There were heavier early losses in both Germany and France where the DAX and CAC were down by around 1%.

Among the FTSE 100 risers were IAG - that's the parent firm of  British Airways.

IAG's stock was almost 4% higher after it reported a 27% jump in annual operating profit to €4.4bn (£3.6bn) - better than had been expected.

The company said flight demand remained strong despite shaky consumer confidence across Europe.

Its rewards for shareholders included a €1bn share buyback plan.

Major banks hit by online issues - leaving customers without access to cash on payday

A number of the UK's biggest banks have been hit by online issues this morning, leaving many customers unable to access their funds on payday. 

It is the second month in a row that major banks have been hit by IT issues around payday.

Service outage site Downdetector showed a spike in the number of issues reported with Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Nationwide, TSB, Bank of Scotland and First Direct. 

Nationwide and First Direct both confirmed issues with their online banking systems, leaving many customers unable to access their money.

Nationwide said in a message on its website that "some incoming and outgoing payments are delayed at the moment", but that "everything else is working normally".

It said direct debits and standing orders were operating as they should, but that payments were in a queue and would arrive soon. 

Customers have been told they do not need to do anything.

First Direct has confirmed that both its mobile and online banking are "experiencing issues with payments".

Lloyds Banking Group, which owns Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, told Money: "We know some customers are having issues with internet banking and our apps.

"We're sorry about this and we're working to have it back to normal soon."

And we've seen this statement from TSB...

Have you been affected? Let us know in the box at the top of the page

'Everyone take a lunch break today': Workers did £8,000 of free work each last year

Workers in the UK did £31bn of unpaid overtime in the past year, according to new analysis from the Trade Union Congress. 

In all 3.8 million people worked extra hours for nothing in return in 2024, putting in an average of 7.2 unpaid hours a week. 

All that work was worth around £8,000 a year for each person, the TUC said on what is its 21st annual Work Your Proper Hours Day.

London had the highest proportion of workers doing unpaid overtime at 17%, compared to 13% nationally. 

The TUC found teachers and health care managers worked the most extra hours for free. 

Its data is pulled from the Office for National Statistics' Labour Force Survey (LFS) 2024Q2.

"Most workers don’t mind putting in extra hours from time to time, but they should be paid for it," Paul Nowak, TUC's general secretary, said. 

"We are encouraging every worker to take their lunch break and finish on time today. And we know that good employers will support them doing that."

Aldi considering head office shake-up | Aston Martin woes | Thatchers fights back

Aldi is reportedly considering proposals to restructure some of its head office divisions - a move that could see up to 350 jobs at risk of redundancy.

Changes could affect some buying department positions, including non-food, finance and back-office functions, according to the Grocery Gazette.

A spokesperson for the supermarket told the outlet: "To support our continued growth and to offer the best experience to our customers, we are consulting over proposals to restructure some head office teams."

Aston Martin is cutting 5% of its workforce after widening losses.

The carmaker says it is removing 170 roles as part of a cost-cutting plan after its debt pile surged by 43% to £1.16bn.

It said this week it would ensure the company is "appropriately resourced for its future plans", describing the job cuts as a "difficult but necessary action".

Thatchers has fought back against falling cider sales - with turnover growing 16.3% to £203.9m in the year to 31 August last year.

It has boosted the brand's market share to 17.2% - its largest ever. 

"An ongoing trend towards premiumisation has seen budget brands decline, while quality, trusted brands like Thatchers are… outperforming the category every quarter," Thatchers said in a statement. 

Big rise in pocket money over past five years - here's what's going on

Children are given 52% more pocket money than they were five years ago, data from GoHenry has found. 

Parents are now paying an average of £9.62 a week to each child - but kids in some parts of the country get more than others.

The bank of mum and dad pays out most in London, with children getting an average of £12.80 a week, followed by Scotland, where they are handed £10.54 a week, the prepaid debit card company found. 

Parents in the West Midlands were found to pay the least at £8.24 a week. 

Unsurprisingly, it also varies based on the child's age... 

"It's been really interesting to see how the amount of pocket money kids are earning has grown over the years," Louise Hill, chief executive and co-founder of GoHenry, told Money. 

"Our data shows a steady increase in weekly pocket money over the past five years, with a notable rise of £2.15 last year alone - that's a 28% jump from 2023 to 2024.

"Looking at the bigger picture, the total increase over the last five years is even more striking, with kids now getting an extra £3.38 a week - that's a 52% rise." 

In total, all children with a GoHenry account earned more than £280m in the last year. 

They earned the most by babysitting, followed by looking after their pet dogs and mowing the lawn. 

-SKY NEWS