A charity has accused the group of letting down a few of its prospects with a big transfer.
A UK excessive avenue financial institution has made a serious change (Picture: Getty)
A serious UK financial institution has been advised to U-turn on a key change after being accused of failing pensioners. Lloyds has introduced that it’s going to now not permit prospects to deposit cheques at Publish Workplace branches.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, mentioned: “We urge Lloyds to rethink its coverage of not accepting cheques in Publish Workplaces and Banking Hubs. Though cheque use has declined lately, there have been nonetheless 91million utilized in 2024, and it’s usually older individuals on decrease incomes and residing in tough circumstances who proceed to decide on to pay this fashion.
“If this strategy turns into the norm, this group of individuals will discover it even more durable to handle their cash and make funds.” Excessive avenue banks, she added, present a necessary service for thousands and thousands of older individuals, and it’s important that these “digitally excluded” or in a susceptible scenario can proceed to financial institution.
Publish Workplace branches will now not settle for Lloyds cheques (Picture: Getty)
The charity boss added: “Moreover, failure to just accept cheques dangers undermining Banking Hubs, which have been designed by the banks to make sure the continuation of bodily banking companies in areas the place it’s not commercially viable to run branches.
“The banks deserve numerous credit score for setting Hubs up, but when their susceptible prospects can now not conduct a necessary perform like paying in cheques then Hubs might be failing to service these most in want, which is central to their goal.”
Lloyds has emphasised that whereas the choice to deposit cheques on the Publish Workplace counter is now not obtainable, it has launched a service with which prospects can put their cheques within the put up, at any put up field or on the Publish Workplace, with the funds clear to the identical timescales because the earlier counter service.
Most prospects use the Lloyds app as the simplest technique to pay in a cheque, it added, by taking a photograph on their telephone.
Business figures, the group additionally emphasised, present that cheques have been in long-term decline and accounted for less than 0.1% of all UK funds in 2024.
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