A major bank could disappear from British high streets within months, after operating for 173 years.
Halifax Bank will no longer be a standalone brand, The Sun reported, after Lloyd’s Banking Group announced it will merge with Lloyds Bank.
Customers will no longer be able to open new accounts with Halifax on the app or website by July 1 this year.
A spokesperson said: ‘Our banking customers can already use any Lloyds, Halifax or Bank of Scotland branch, and see any of their products and services in any of their apps — there are no changes for our customers today.’
If the brand were to be phased out altogether, there would be no change to customers’ account numbers or the protection they have automatically in case banks fail under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
In March this year, Halifax locations in Nelson, Peterlee and Sleaford shut their doors for good.
Halifax began as a building society in 1852, first going on the stock market in 1997 as a bank.
They merged with Bank of Scotland in 2001 and grew to become one of the most well-known brands on the high street.
Halifax isn’t the only banking brand vanishing from the high street. In May, it was announced that TSB banks would similarly close its high street stores after more than 200 years.
In April, Spanish bank chain Santander completed its £2.6billion takeover of TSB, purchasing it from rival bank Sabadell last year.
The takeover has seen the two brands combine to create Britain’s third-largest bank, but that won’t be for long.
According to the Financial Times, Santander plans to phase out the TSB brand from UK high streets and run the chain’s banks under its Santander UK arm.
The plans are part of Santander’s attempt to save £400million across the combined business, a process which usually involves closing branches and cutting duplicate jobs.
Santander has been restructuring its operations over the last few years, which has involved axing jobs. Just this year, it plans to close 44 of its UK branches, with more set for 2027.
Further cuts to save an additional £100million have been proposed once the two banks have integrated, starting in 2028.
TSB operates around 175 branches in the UK. It’s unknown if any of these will close as part of the takeover.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.