Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) is set to close 56 more branches in the UK this year citing changing customer behaviour along with the decreased number of transactions being done in branches due to the increased use of mobile and internet banking.
The British financial institution will close operations of 31 Lloyds, 10 Halifax and 15 Bank of Scotland branches between April and October 2020.
In August 2019, the banking group announced the closure of 15 branches, of which 12 were Lloyds Bank branches and three were Halifax branches.
The layoffs at Lloyds Banking could be under 80
Accord, an independent trade union said that the overall staff layoffs following the latest closure of branches from Lloyds Banking are expected to be below 80 full-time roles.
The trade union said that most of the impacted staff members are likely to be placed in other branches.
Accord, in a statement, said: “We fully appreciate that the demand for high street branch banking is diminishing as customers increasingly move to app-based banking but we’ll be examining LBG’s plans to ensure that they’re properly thought through and robustly evidenced.
“So far, all branch closures have been managed without compulsory redundancies and Accord expects the same outcome here.
“We’ll be contacting our members who are impacted by the closures to offer support and representation.”
A spokesperson for the banking group has reportedly said that Lloyds Banking Group is committed to maintaining the largest branch network in the country. The spokesperson added that apart from its branches, the banking group’s customers can also use the Post Office for their banking needs and also its mobile branches which visit several rural communities.
Meanwhile, consumer organisation Which? wants the government to intervene urgently with legislation that will safeguard access to cash as an important backup and for as long as it is required.
Which? money editor Jenny Ross said: “The loss of yet more branches to an already devastated network will hit communities across the UK hard, as there is still a clear demand for access to traditional banking services and cash.
“If the industry wants to encourage people online then banks must demonstrate that their systems are up to scratch by drastically reducing the number of IT outages that customers endure – and also by equipping them with the skills needed to benefit from digital services.”
