NS&I says login trouble could be down to a problem with your device (2024)

Since National Savings and Investments introduced a new system to log in to check Premium Bond accounts two years ago, the This is Money mailbox has seen a steady flood of readers contact us to say they face problems logging in.

In the summer of 2022, NS&I integrated two-factor authentication into their account log-in process - an extra security measure now used by most major financial firms.

Customers receive a one-time passcode to their mobile phone to then log-in.

But one recent case sent to NS&I, then handed to a troubleshooter to tackle the problem, claims it was down to an issue with the time on the device of the customer.

One NS&I customer - who we have not named at her request - reported that she had been struggling to log into her NS&I account in the week running up to this month's Premium Bonds prize draw.

She told This is Money: 'I am at the end of my tether having never had problems before – it's all down to the new 2FA log-in.

'I've tried updating my browser, logging in from my phone and a laptop and nothing works.

'I input my log in details, it sends me a Pin, I put it in, and it takes me to the beginning again.

'I'm in my early 70s, but am technologically clued up – I do all of my banking online for example without any problems, but have no clue what to try next.'

An NS&I spokesman said: 'We identified that the time on this customer's laptop was incorrect, once this was updated she was able to log in.

'There was a looping issue on this customer's mobile and we were able sort this out so she can also log in to via her phone.'

This can happen because two-factor authentication is time sensitive, so if the time on the device you are trying to log in from, say your laptop for example, and your phone where you receive the code are out of sync by even 30 seconds, the code will not be accepted.

When the time on your devices goes out of sync, this is called time drift.

To fix it, you need to check the time and date setting on your phone and make sure it is set to update automatically rather than manually.

You should also check your authenticator app settings in the main menu of the app, whether that is Google or Microsoft, and sync the date and time with your device.

NS&I said on its website that if you are having trouble logging in with two-factor authentication, one of the things you can do is 'check the time and date on your device are correct.'

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Some customers complained that when they tried to log on online, the system would produce a message saying there has been a technical issue and to start again.

Now it transpires it could be down to a bizarre problem whereby the time on your devices become out of sync.

More log-in problems with NS&I

On the morning of Monday 8 April, NS&I is carrying an error message on its website stating: 'We're aware of an intermittent issue with our website while logging in and are working hard to fix this.

'Thank you for your patience and sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.'

One This is Money reporter tried to log-in this morning - and despite never facing a problem before, was unable to get in.

Other customers have reported on X that they have been struggling to log in. One user, who has not been able to log in for three days said: 'Shocking state. Total waste of time. Been trying to log into to the web site for the last three days.'

Another customer said: 'I've been having trouble logging on to the website since Saturday, any ideas why?'

One concerned customer said: This sounds like a major problem NS&I... what's the problem? Have you been hacked? Lost data?'.

This is Money asked NS&I whether the login problem is due to a cyber attack. NS&I did not answer this but said they problem was due to a flood of traffic from customers checking Premium Bonds.

An NS&I spokesman said: 'We believe that this issue was caused by an increase in website traffic and we are working to resolve it.

'Our website is often busier at the start of the month when Premium Bonds customers log-in to check if they have won any prizes.'

One reader who emailed This is Money claims they have been trying since Saturday morning to log in to withdraw Premium Bonds.

When the customer got through to an NS&I adviser they said: 'He behaved and spoke as if he had no idea at all that there was a site issue'.

'It seems to be taking them an inordinate amount of time to fix this issue.'

> Are you having problems logging in? Email: editor@thisismoney.co.uk