Lloyds bank is planning to scrap millions of passbook savings accounts in a controversial move feared to hit elderly the hardest and trigger yet more branch closures. Britain’s biggest lender wants to ditch 2.6 million traditional passbooks used by customers at its Halifax arm, the Mail on Sunday has reported.
“This will be a massive blow for millions of customers who are digitally excluded and don’t do their banking online,” said James Daley of campaign group Fairer Finance. “Going into a branch with a passbook is how many of them have done their banking for their whole lives – it’s all they know.
“At the very least Lloyds needs to offer options to give their most vulnerable customers continued access to branches. Two months notice is not enough.” Tory former Pensions Minister Ros Altmann added: “This is deeply disturbing. It clearly could lead the way for more branch closures which is particularly problematic for older customers.”
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Mark Brown, general secretary of the BTU union which represents Lloyds bank staff, said: “This is about stopping pesky customers from going into branches to pay money into or withdraw cash from their passbook accounts. And when the customer footfall drops, Lloyds will use that as an excuse to close hundreds more branches across the network.”
“Nearly 80% of customers who have a passbook do not use it or visit a branch at all, with many already using online or telephone banking,” the bank said. “Since July, we have been speaking to customers in branches about the change, helping us to understand any personalised support that they may need. We’ll soon be writing to all passbook customers to let them know what happens next and the date their account will change.
“Customers can continue to manage their account at the branch counter, and request a Cashpoint card, alongside the option to receive regular free paper statements.”
