Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Open the editor’s digest for free
FT editor Rula Khalaf picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Lloyds Banking Group Halifax, Lloyds and Bank of Scotland will allow customers to use any of its branches across its three brands, prompting trade union concerns that the UK lender is preparing to close hundreds of locations and ax more jobs.
Jane Opperman, head of consumer relations at Lloyds, said in a memo to staff that the group needed to improve how it supported customers in physical branches. He said.
“That’s why – from later this year – we’ll be making it possible for our customers to use the UK’s largest combined branch network, regardless of which Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland branches they have,” she added.
In an internal presentation published by the Financial Times by 2023, Lloyds said a quarter of the UK’s biggest high street banking group’s branches would be close. The high street bank has around 932 branches, according to the union agreement.
Consolidating banking services across multiple brands could put some branches out of business, raising fears that could pave the way for another round of mass closures.
Mark Brown, general secretary of BTU at Lloyds Independent Association, said that the main driver of the decision was “to make it easier for Lloyds to close more branches and save more money” than to improve the customer experience.
“We estimate that Lloyds could close 233 branches at the virtual drop of a hat, with thousands of staff losing their jobs,” he said.
Lloyd’s “We are always looking for ways to make banking easier and more flexible for our customers,” he said.
High street banks have closed more than 6,000 branches in the past decade, according to consumer group Which?
These closures helped lenders cut costs, but deprived local communities of access to money and financial services. According to ATM network provider LINK, more than 7 in 10 UK adults use cash at least once every two weeks.
The Labor government has promised to speed up so-called banking hubs, which will be run by banks, Cash Access UK and the Post Office in areas where lenders have retreated. It has set a target of 350 centers in the current parliamentary process.
Lloyds’ strategy, according to chief executive Charlie Nunn, is to strengthen relationships with customers at the same time as it becomes increasingly digital. As part of the effort, the bank has reviewed 2,500 jobs, and plans to cut jobs by 2023.
Opperman noted that the group’s key priority is increasing the number of mobile app users — currently more than 20 million.
“I know change can be difficult, but when we embrace it, we create better outcomes for our customers and colleagues,” she added.
