Lloyds Banking Group is set to discontinue its invoice factoring service for small business clients by the year’s end. 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 from the Financial Times, Lloyds will cease its practice of buying unpaid invoices from small businesses this week. The Mirror reached out to Lloyds Banking Group, which comprises Lloyds, Halifax, and Bank of Scotland, for a statement.
The Financial Times also disclosed that NatWest and Barclays shut down their factoring services a few years ago, while HSBC has implemented stricter criteria for the service.
In other news, Lloyds has made significant changes this year. Customers can no longer deposit cheques using pay-in slips; instead, they must use their debit card and PIN for deposits. The option to deposit cheques at local Post Offices has been eliminated, requiring customers to visit a Lloyds, Halifax, or Bank of Scotland branch or use mobile banking for cheque deposits.
Furthermore, Lloyds has raised the monthly fee for its Club Lloyds packaged bank account from £3 to £5. However, this 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 and access to the Club Lloyds Monthly Saver and cashback at select retailers. Additional fees apply for Club Lloyds Silver and Club Lloyds Platinum accounts.
For Silver accounts, customers pay an extra £11.50 per month, while Platinum accounts incur a monthly charge of £22.50. On a positive note, Lloyds has eliminated debit card foreign currency fees for transactions made in the local currency, with potential charges if payments are made in pound sterling.
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