Lloyds to close 60 branches after shift to online banking



Lloyds Banking Group has said it plans to shut 60 branches across the country, adding to recent closures as customers move financial management online.

Britain’s biggest lender said it would close 24 Lloyds branches, as well as 19 Bank of Scotland and 17 Halifax sites.

Up to 124 staff are affected, but Lloyds said it would try to find those staff new roles within the company.

The bank said use of its mobile banking app was up 27 per cent over the past two years, and there was a 12 per cent rise in regular users of its online banking system. Now 18.6 million people bank online and 15 million use the app.

Vim Maru, retail director, said: “Just like many other high street businesses, fewer customers are choosing to visit our branches.

“Our branch network is an important way for us to support our customers, but we need to adapt to the significant growth in customers choosing to do most of their everyday banking online.”

The group currently has 739 Lloyds branches, 553 Halifax branches and 184 Bank of Scotland sites.

Caren Evans, national officer for the Unite union, said: “Lloyds Banking Group must not be allowed to abandon 60 more local communities where bank branches play an essential role.

“The 124 employees who work tirelessly in their communities are dedicated to serving the banking needs of the most vulnerable who depend on their skilled services.

“When a bank branch closes, the heart of the local community is ripped out and the results are devastating.”

The news follows several other closures from the bank, which said in October it could close 48 sites, and announced 44 closures in June last year.

Last week, HSBC said it would close 69 branches this year, while NatWest Group said it would shut 32 branches.





Source link


Like it? Share with your friends!

What's Your Reaction?

hate hate
0
hate
confused confused
0
confused
fail fail
0
fail
fun fun
0
fun
geeky geeky
0
geeky
love love
0
love
lol lol
0
lol
omg omg
0
omg
win win
0
win
Administrator

0 Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Choose A Format
Personality quiz
Series of questions that intends to reveal something about the personality
Trivia quiz
Series of questions with right and wrong answers that intends to check knowledge
Poll
Voting to make decisions or determine opinions
Story
Formatted Text with Embeds and Visuals
List
The Classic Internet Listicles
Countdown
The Classic Internet Countdowns
Open List
Submit your own item and vote up for the best submission
Ranked List
Upvote or downvote to decide the best list item
Meme
Upload your own images to make custom memes
Video
Youtube and Vimeo Embeds
Audio
Soundcloud or Mixcloud Embeds
Image
Photo or GIF
Gif
GIF format