Lloyds Banking Group to cut 1,600 jobs as it shifts to online banking

Lloyds Banking Group is to cut about 1,600 jobs across its branch network as it continues to shift its business towards online banking.

Some 830 new roles will also be part of the strategy, resulting in a net reduction of 769 jobs.

“We’re introducing a number of new roles and making changes to our branch teams so our customers can see us how and when they want to,” a spokesperson said.

Some staff will be offered voluntary redundancy and the most junior employees are expected not to be affected by the losses.

The new jobs will be customer-facing and provide services across branches, via video meetings and over the phone.

Only 8% of customers choose to visit high street branches as the only way to manage their money, while more than 21 million customers use online or mobile banking, Lloyds Banking Group said on Thursday.

Lloyds, in common with other major high street banks, has been closing branches across the country.

The group is the UK’s biggest mortgage lender and its subsidiaries include Bank of Scotland and Halifax.

In November, Lloyds said it was shutting another 45 branches across its network, meaning that at least 275 branches will be cut across Lloyds, Halifax, and Bank of Scotland over 2023 and 2024.

The closure of 40 Lloyds and Halifax sites was announced last January.

Branches to be shut had seen the number of visits drop by an average of 60% in the last five years, the company said at the time.

Latest financial results showed a rise in profits amid high interest rates. The group reported pre-tax profits of £5.728bn for the nine months ending in September.

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Higher base interest rates set by the Bank of England had yielded £13.7bn in income, a 7% increase from a year earlier.