Under the recent Lloyds Bank rule change, customers are no longer able to cash cheques at the post office. The bank has found itself in a row after a woman, Annabel Yates, was unable to deposit a £900 HMRC cheque while accessing the financial institution’s services at the Post Office. She was not allowed to hand over the cheque at the post office, and also could not deposit the unscannable cheque online due to its perforated edges.
Annabel Yates accused Lloyds Bank of its Rule Change
Annabel Yates accused Lloyds Bank of not being able to deposit a £900 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) cheque while accessing the financial institution’s services at the Post Office.
Despite being a customer, she was not allowed to hand over the large sum at her local Post Office branch, and also could not deposit the unscannable cheque online due to its perforated edges.
Lloyds Bank Group New Rule Change
Under the new rule change at Lloyds Bank, customers cannot pay in cheques through the post office any longer. Now customers are being told to deposit money through either Lloyds’ apps, the banking giant’s physical branches, or using a freepost deposit service.
However, Lloyds Banking Group’s rule change comes after sweeping branch closures across UK high streets, with the consumer champion determining that 6,000 locations shut down between 2015 and 2024.
Annabel Yates Accusations against Lloyds Bank
Annabel Yates accused the bank’s policy change of risking ‘disenfranchising the rural population.’
In one of her statements, she said, “I think the bank’s theory is that everything could be done on an app, and that’s just not always the case. Back in the day, Lloyd’s ethos was to make banking easy. I think this is a reversal of that.”
She further stated that she doesn’t want to go for the option of deposits, as she did not want a cheque in the post for such a large amount of money, when it’s not sure it would actually reach its destination.
Lloyds Bank on the New Rule Change
One of the spokespersons of Lloyds Bank Group said, “Customers can use our app to pay in cheques, visit any Lloyds, Halifax or Bank of Scotland branch, or get in touch with us about our freepost cheque deposit service.”
Earlier this year, Lloyds Bank confirmed plans to close another 95 bank branches this year.
