Lloyds Banking Group will discontinue its invoice factoring service for small businesses by the end of the year, as reported. Invoice factoring involves a business selling its outstanding invoices to another company at a discounted rate in exchange for immediate cash flow, with the purchasing company handling the collection of the full payment.
According to reports, Lloyds will cease purchasing unpaid invoices from small businesses this week. The Mirror reached out to Lloyds Banking Group, which comprises Lloyds, Halifax, and Bank of Scotland, for comments on this matter.
In similar moves, NatWest and Barclays closed their factoring services a few years ago, while HSBC has implemented stricter criteria for the service.
Lloyds has implemented several significant changes this year. Customers can no longer deposit cheques using pay-in slips; instead, they must now use their debit card and enter their PIN for deposits. Additionally, the option to deposit cheques at local Post Offices has been eliminated, requiring customers to visit Lloyds, Halifax, or Bank of Scotland branches or utilize mobile banking services for cheque deposits.
Furthermore, 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 yearly lifestyle benefit choice between 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 receive up to 15% cashback at specific retailers. The increased monthly fee also applies to Club Lloyds Silver and Club Lloyds Platinum accounts, with additional charges for these premium accounts at £11.50 and £22.50 per month, respectively.
On a positive note, Lloyds has eliminated debit card foreign currency fees for transactions made in the local currency, although charges may still apply for transactions in pound sterling.