Staff at Lloyds Bank will no longer open joint, premium or student accounts in branches or switch customers from another lender, The Telegraph says
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Britain's largest bank is set to stop opening new accounts in branches in a bid to force new customers to go digital, reports claim.
Staff at Lloyds Bank will no longer open joint, premium or student accounts in branches or switch customers from another lender, The Telegraph says.
The move would be a major blow against in-person branches amid worries that lender's pushes to go digital is set to leave elderly and disabled customers without vital help.
The newspaper said it has seen guidance issued to Lloyds employees which confirmed that joint, premium and student accounts would no longer be able to be opened in person.
The bank is currently in the process of shutting more than 100 branches across Britain, adding to the 1,470 locations it has shed in the last 10 years.
Lloyds have also axed the option to deposit cheques at the Post Office despite their shuttering of sites.
Martin Quinn, of the group Campaign for Cash, told The Telegraph: “In-person bank branch services are vital for consumers. People do not want to talk to a machine; they want to deal with real people.
“High streets up and down the country are being hollowed out by shop closures, and removing more face-to-face banking services is a real kick in the teeth.”
Lloyds Banking Group, which also owns Halifax and Bank of Scotland, has 28 million customers across Britain.
Almost five million of those do not use its digital services despite the rollback of in-person services from customers.
According to Which?, Banks and building societies have closed 6,694 branches since January 2015, at a rate of around 53 each month.
Mark Brown, the general secretary of Lloyds staff union Affinity, told The Telegraph: “By stopping new and existing customers from accessing everyday banking products and services and forcing them down the digital channel, Lloyds is signalling the death of branch banking.
"What’s the point of bank branches?”
List of Lloyds Bank branches closing:
Aberdare, Wales – June 23
Altrincham, Greater Manchester – June 9
Birkenhead, Merseyside – June 8
Birmingham Blackheath, West Midlands – June 10
Birmingham Bordesley Green, West Midlands – June 16
Birmingham Kingstanding, West Midlands – June 3
Birmingham Maypole, West Midlands – June 4
Bournemouth, Dorset – May 28
Bristol Fishponds, Bristol – August 6
Camberwell Green, Greater London – June 22
Cardiff Victoria Park, Wales – June 3
Cheapside, Grater London – June 1
Clevedon, Somerset – March 15*
Coalville, Leicestershire – June 23
Crowborough, East Sussex – June 9
Daventry, Northamptonshire – August 3
Didcot, Oxfordshire – June 24*
Ebbw Vale, Wales – March 15*
Golders Green, Greater London – June 8
Heswall, Merseyside – June 23*
Hinckley, Leicestershire – June 10
Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire – June 22
Honiton, Devon – March 16*
Horncastle, Lincolnshire – August 10
Hull Ings Rd, East Yorkshire – June 15
Kingswinford, West Midlands – June 22
Lancaster, Lancashire – June 9
Llangefni, Wales – June 16
London Bridge, Greater London – June 3
London Oxford Street 113-117, Greater London – May 27
London Tottenham Court Rd, Greater London – May 27
London Victoria, Greater London – May 27
Longton, Staffordshire – March 17*
Lymington, Hampshire – June 8
Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire – June 15
Newmarket, Suffolk – June 24*
Norwich Aylsham Rd, Norfolk – June 2
Redhill, Surrey – May 28
Ringwood, Hampshire – June 23*
Sevenoaks, Kent – June 18
South Newington, Oxfordshire – June 10
Southam, Warwickshire – June 9
Staines, Surrey – June 1
Streatham, Greater London – May 28
Street, Somerset – March 15*
Swansea Enterprise Park, Wales – July 2
Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire – June 17
Uttoxeter, Staffordshire – June 18
Wareham, Dorset – June 16
Wednesbury, West Midlands – March 16*
West Byfleet, Surrey – June 1
Wolverhampton Tettenhall, West Midlands – June 11
Woodley, Berkshire – June 17
List of Halifax branches closing:
Armthorpe, South Yorkshire – March 17*
Ashington, Northumberland – June 3
Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester – June 1
Beeston, Nottinghamshire – June 4
Billingham, County Durham – June 4
Bognor Regis, West Sussex – June 15
Bramley, West Yorkshire – June 15
Bridgend, Wales – June 11
Cardiff Albany Road, Wales – June 11
Chichester, West Sussex – June 1
Chorley, Lancashire – June 24
Croydon City, Greater London – June 25
Cwmbran, Wales – June 2
Didsbury, Greater Manchester – June 10
Ellesmere Port, Cheshire – June 8
Goole, East Yorkshire – June 17
Greenford, Greater London – June 16
Halesowen, West Midlands – June 17
Hammersmith, Greater London – May 28
Horsham, West Sussex – June 2
Hunts Cross, Merseyside – June 8
Islington Upper St, Greater London – May 27
Mexborough, South Yorkshire – March 15*
Shipley, West Yorkshire – June 9
Skelmersdale, Lancashire – May 27*
Southgate, Greater London – June 2
Surrey Quays Shop Ctr, Greater London – June 2
Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands – June 3
Thornaby, North Yorkshire – June 17
Torquay, Devon – July 9
West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire – June 16
List of Bank of Scotland branches closing:
Benbecula – July 1
Blairgowrie – June 18
Bridge Of Don – June 10
Broughty Ferry – June 15
Garrowhill – June 4
Haddington – June 11
Kelso – June 18
Lochgilphead – June 22
Penicuik – June 4
Rutherglen – June 11
Stonehaven – June 18
