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Lloyds Banking Group will allow its customers in Halifax, Lloyds and Bank of Scotland to use any of its branches across the three brands, fueling institutional concerns that the UK lender is preparing to close locations. hundreds and many other works.
In a staff letter setting out priorities for the year, Lloyds’ head of customer relations Jayne Opperman said the group needed to “change(e) support for customers” in the physical sector even as “many people choose mobile than any other way of banking”.
“That’s why – from later this year – we will enable customers to use any of our Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland branches, regardless of their bank type, to give them access to the UK’s largest integrated network,” he added.
A quarter of the UK’s biggest banking group’s branches are closing, Lloyds said in an internal 2023 presentation seen by the Financial Times. The high street bank has around 932 branches, according to the union agreement.
Consolidating banking services into different brands could make some of those branches bankrupt, raising concerns that it could pave the way for mass closures.
Mark Brown, general secretary of BTU, Lloyds’ independent trade union, said the main driver of the decision was to “make it easier for Lloyds to close more branches and save more money” rather than improving the customer experience. customers.
He added: “We estimate that Lloyds will be able to close 233 branches when it goes down, with thousands of staff losing their jobs.”
Lloyds it said it is “always looking for ways to make banking easier and more convenient for our customers”.
High street banks have closed more than 6,000 branches in the past decade, according to consumer group Which?.
These closures have helped lenders cut costs, but have damaged local residents’ access to money and financial services. More than 7 in 10 UK adults use cash at least once a fortnight, according to online provider ATM LINK.
The Labor Government has pledged to speed up the roll-out of so-called banking sites jointly run by the banks, Cash Access UK and the Post Office in areas where borrowers have fallen behind. It has set a target of 350 hubs during the current parliament.
Lloyds’ strategy under chief executive Charlie Nunn has been to “deepen its relationship” with customers while simultaneously becoming increasingly digital. As part of that effort, the bank has reviewed 2,500 jobs, and in 2023 began a series of job cuts.
Opperman said in his report that the group’s priority was to increase the number of mobile phone users – up from 20 million currently – and that it would improve its Halifax and Bank of Scotland mobile applications. in the coming weeks.
“I know change can feel difficult, but when we embrace it, we create better results for our customers and colleagues,” he added.