Apps

Why won’t the Halifax app let me sign in with my fingerprint?

Halifax app fingerprint
Don't bank on it: a weird bug hit the Halifax app

I’m a big fan of the Halifax bank app. In fact, it’s about the only thing keeping me with the bank – it’s certainly not the abundant generosity of its interest rates. However, a recent bug in the Halifax app prevented me from signing in with my fingerprints, demanding my ‘memorable information’ every time. Here’s what caused the bug and how I solved it.

What caused the Halifax fingerprint bug?

When I set up my phone, in something of a hurry, I only registered one fingerprint with the device. A few weeks later, I decided to add a second fingerprint, so that I could sign in no matter which hand I held the smartphone in.

This caused the Halifax app to throw a strop.

The first time I signed into the bank app after adding the additional fingerprint, it declared that the number of fingerprints registered with the device had changed and demanded my memorable information. I was actually quite impressed that the app’s security was that strong, preventing an unauthorised user from somehow adding a fingerprint and making hay with my bank account.

However, the next time I logged in it happened.

And the next time.

And… well, you get the message.

How do you fix the problem?

Luckily, this one was quite easy to resolve. The problem was fixed by uninstalling the Halifax app and then reinstalling it from the Google Play Store.

You’ll have to go through the set-up procedure again, which involves full username, password and memorable information, as well an automated confirmation call from the bank, but it’s less painful then having to re-enter the memorable information every time you open the app.

The Halifax is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, so you might well see a similar problem with the Lloyds and Bank of Scotland apps, too.

NOW READ THIS: How do you create a strong password?

About the author

Barry Collins

Barry has scribbled about tech for almost 20 years for The Sunday Times, PC Pro, WebUser, Which? and many others. He was once Deputy Editor of Mail Online and remains in therapy to this day. Email Barry at barry@bigtechquestion.com.

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  • Thanks for this. I’ve also been experiencing issues logging in with my fingerprint but no issues in other apps, like Barclays, PayPal etc. When I open the app the fingerprint dialogue opens for a fraction of a second, then it jumps to Memorable Word entry. Unfortunately a reinstall did not fix it. I’m using app v64.06 on a Xiaomi Mi 9T running Android 10.

  • Hi, could you have another solution for this, because I had reinstall the app and it’s not working. Really frustrating when I can’t use fingerprint to sign in.

  • Since changing my phone, the app has failed to work with my fingerprint. The fingerprint has moved from the back to the side on my new phone. It feels almost like the app has saved my fingerprint on my old phone. Have tried all ways of uninstalling and re-registering my fingerprint at different times. Last two options, remove it from my old phone, then get in touch with the Halifax technical team.