Lloyds Banking Group will discontinue its invoice factoring service for small businesses by the end of the year, as reported. Invoice factoring involves selling unpaid invoices to another company at a reduced value in exchange for immediate cash flow, with the purchasing company then responsible for collecting the full payment.
According to reports, Lloyds currently purchases unpaid invoices from small businesses, but this service will cease this week. The Financial Times revealed that NatWest and Barclays closed their factoring services years ago, while HSBC has recently tightened its service criteria.
In other news, Lloyds has implemented significant changes this year. Customers can no longer deposit cheques using pay-in slips; instead, they must 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 for cheque deposits.
Furthermore, Lloyds has raised the monthly fee for its Club Lloyds packaged bank account from £3 to £5, though the fee is waived if customers deposit £2,000 or more monthly. The Club Lloyds account offers one lifestyle benefit annually, such as a Disney+ subscription, cinema tickets, or discounts on food and drink brands, along with access to the Club Lloyds Monthly Saver and cashback at selected retailers.
Additional account tiers, including Club Lloyds Silver and Club Lloyds Platinum, require extra fees of £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 fees may still apply for transactions in pound sterling.