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Lloyds Banking Group will allow its Halifax, Lloyds and Bank of Scotland customers to use any of its branches across the three brands, raising union concerns that the British lender is preparing to close hundreds of sites and cut more jobs.
In a memo to staff outlining priorities for this year, Jane Opperman, head of consumer relations at Lloyd's, said the group needed to “evolve how we support customers” in physical branches even as “more and more people are choosing mobile over any other way of banking”. . “.
“That's why – from later this year – we will make it possible for customers to use any Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland branches, regardless of which brand they are with, giving them access to the largest combined branch network in the UK,” she added.
A quarter of the UK's largest major banking group's branches are located in close proximity to each other, Lloyds said in an internal 2023 presentation seen by the Financial Times. The main bank has about 932 branches, according to the labor union.
The combination of banking services across different brands could make some of these branches redundant, raising concerns that it could pave the way for another round of mass closures.
Mark Brown, general secretary of the BTU, an independent trade union at Lloyd's, said the main motivation for the decision was to “make it easier for Lloyd's to close more branches and save more money” rather than improving customer experience.
He added: “We estimate that Lloyd's will be able to close 233 branches any time soon, with thousands of employees losing their jobs.”
Lloyd's She said she is “always looking for ways to make banking easier and more flexible for our customers.”
Major banks have closed more than 6,000 branches in the past decade, according to consumer group Which?
These closures helped lenders reduce costs, but hindered communities' access to cash and financial services. More than 7 in 10 UK adults use cash at least once every two weeks, according to ATM network provider LINK.
The Labor government has pledged to accelerate the launch of so-called banking centers jointly run by banks, Cash Access UK and the Post Office in areas where lenders have backed out. It has set a target of establishing 350 centers over the course of the current Parliament.
Lloyd's strategy under chief executive Charlie Nunn has been to “deepen its relationship” with customers at the same time as it becomes increasingly digital. As part of this effort, the bank reviewed 2,500 jobs and in 2023 embarked on a round of job cuts.
Opperman said in her note that the group's main priority was to increase the number of mobile app users – from the current 20 million – and that it would update the Halifax and Bank of Scotland mobile apps in the coming weeks.
“I know change can be daunting, but when we embrace it, we achieve better outcomes for both our clients and colleagues,” she added.
