Lloyds Banking Group is set to discontinue its invoice factoring service catering to small businesses by the year’s end, a recent report indicates.
Invoice factoring involves a business selling its outstanding invoices to another entity at a discounted rate in exchange for immediate cash infusion, with the purchasing company then responsible for collecting the full payment.
According to the Financial Times (FT), Lloyds will cease its practice of purchasing unpaid invoices from small businesses. The Mirror reached out to Lloyds Banking Group, encompassing Lloyds, Halifax, and Bank of Scotland, for their input on the matter.
The FT also highlighted that NatWest and Barclays shut down their factoring operations a few years back, while HSBC has implemented stricter criteria for such services.
In other changes this year, Lloyds now mandates customers to use their debit cards and PIN for cheque deposits, eliminating the option to deposit cheques at local Post Offices. Moreover, the bank raised the monthly fee for its Club Lloyds packaged bank account from £3 to £5, although this fee is waived if a minimum of £2,000 is deposited monthly.
Club Lloyds offers various benefits, including a yearly lifestyle perk choice like a Disney+ subscription, cinema tickets, a magazine subscription, or discounts on specific food and drink brands. The account also grants access to the Club Lloyds Monthly Saver and up to 15% cashback at selected retailers. Silver and Platinum Club Lloyds accounts incur additional monthly charges of £11.50 and £22.50, respectively.
On a positive note, Lloyds eliminated debit card foreign currency fees, provided payments are made in the local currency, with potential charges if transactions are in pound sterling.