Lloyds Banking Group is set to discontinue its invoice factoring service for small businesses by the end of the year. Invoice factoring involves a business selling its unpaid invoices to another company for immediate cash flow, with the purchasing company taking over the collection of the full payment.
According to reports, Lloyds, which includes Lloyds, Halifax, and Bank of Scotland, will halt the practice of buying unpaid invoices from small businesses. This move follows similar actions by NatWest and Barclays in recent years, while HSBC has also tightened its criteria for this service.
In addition to this change, Lloyds has implemented other significant adjustments this year. Customers can no longer deposit cheques using a pay-in slip; instead, they must now use their debit card and PIN for deposits. Furthermore, the option to deposit cheques at local Post Offices has been completely eliminated, necessitating visits to Lloyds, Halifax, or Bank of Scotland branches, or the use of mobile banking for cheque deposits.
Moreover, Lloyds has raised the monthly fee for its Club Lloyds packaged bank account from £3 to £5 this week. However, the fee is waived if customers deposit £2,000 or more each month. The Club Lloyds account offers various benefits, including a lifestyle benefit annually, such as a Disney+ subscription, cinema tickets, a magazine subscription, or discounts on select food and drink brands. Customers also gain access to the Club Lloyds Monthly Saver and can earn up to 15% cashback at specific retailers. There are also Club Lloyds Silver and Club Lloyds Platinum accounts available for additional fees of £11.50 and £22.50 per month, respectively.
On a positive note, Lloyds has removed debit card foreign currency fees for transactions in the local currency, although fees may still apply for transactions in pound sterling.