Rise of online and mobile banking spells disaster for Lloyds workers

10m Lloyds customers now use online banking, while mobile banking has quadrupled to 4.5m over the past three years – and, as the UK lender steps up automation of customer-facing services, 9,000 jobs are set to be axed.

The 25% taxpayer-owned bank will also set a target for high street branch closures, although this number has not yet been confirmed, according to Sky News.

Tens of thousands of jobs had already been slashed at Lloyds TSB and HBOS since the institutions merged in 2008, a common trend among major banks in the aftermath of the financial crisis. This time, the growing popularity of online and mobile banking has been cited as cause for culling a further 10% of the workforce.

A report released by the British Bankers’ Association earlier this year showed rapid growth of online and mobile banking, with 40 million transactions conducted by UK customers every week during 2013.

This is about responding to customer behaviour and ensuring that Lloyds is in the right shape for the next 20 years of consumer banking,” said one Lloyds insider.

 

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