Hargreaves Lansdown says IT issues which affected thousands are over

UK financial services giant Hargreaves Lansdown says it is "no longer seeing" the technical issues which affected thousands of clients trying to use the mobile app and website.

The Bristol-based company, which manages private investments for two million people, apologised in an update for inconvenience caused and said clients would now be able to use their accounts "as normal".

It added that clients' assets and data were "secure" and there was "no evidence of any cyber incident data breach".

According to website Downdetector, which monitors web outages, thousands of people reported problems with the site since the disruption began on Thursday evening.

Hargreaves Lansdown is the UK's largest direct-to-consumer investment platform, allowing customers to buy and sell investments such as shares, as well as providing financial advice and offering accounts like cash ISAs.

The technical issues caused an angry reaction from some X users in response to the initial post from the company.

Some have accused it of a lack of diligence, while others threatened to move their business to a rival firm.

A number of users have also asked if the firm will pay compensation.

The issues have come at what is likely to be a busy time for many getting their business affairs in order, as the financial year draws to a close.

A Hargreaves Lansdown client for more than 15 years, who asked only to be identified as Paul, said he used the platform to trade every day.

He estimated the technical issues had cost him "a few thousand pounds of missed profit".

"As the UK's biggest trading and funds shop, this is serious. I called this morning but got more vague statements of technical issues they have been working on through the night.

"The impact on me and, I believe, every client is that I cannot log in to transact.

"I want to know what is wrong and how long until it gets fixed," he told the BBC on Friday morning.

Also speaking on Friday morning, Rob Bolton, a Hargreaves Lansdown customer from London, was not able to access his personal stocks and shares ISA account through either the website or the app since the night before.

"It's particularly worrying as customers don't understand the extent of the technical issue or even when we will be able to trade again," he told the BBC.

"This is especially concerning considering the geopolitical context and the volatility in the markets."

Another client of the firm, Gerardo Vece, from Buckinghamshire, told the BBC: "I have oil and gas investments which are leveraged and designed to be held for less than one day, so they are very volatile right now, and I can't trade them online or over the phone or even access my account."

"Not being able to act on these movements means I can't benefit from my investment."

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