A wrongly-issued letter caused alarm among some banking customers.
Lloyds TSB has apologised to a number of customers who were mistakenly told they had exceeded their overdraft limits. The bank said a "technical error" had resulted in a "tiny percentage" of customers receiving letters informing them that they had slipped into the red, the BBC reports.
A spokesperson for the bank told the news provider: "We sincerely apologise for this error and will be writing to these customers shortly to confirm that this letter was sent by mistake and that they won't be charged."
Banks routinely issue penalties to customers who exceed their overdraft limits as agreed with their current account provider, but these charges are the issue of an ongoing legal case looking into the fairness of such fees.
Indeed, eight banks, including Lloyds TSB, have today launched an appeal against an earlier ruling on the issue, insisting that the Office of Fair Trading does not have the power to decide whether or not the charges are lawful.
Regardless of the outcome of the case, those wrongly in receipt of the Lloyds TSB letters will not have to pay anything, the bank confirmed. "In any circumstance where it is bank error, a customer will not be charged," said the spokesperson.
