Lloyds Banking Group will discontinue its invoice factoring service for small businesses by the end of the current year, as reported. 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 then responsible for collecting the full payment.

The decision to end this service, which involved Lloyds acquiring unpaid invoices from small businesses, was confirmed this week, according to the FT. Lloyds Banking Group, encompassing Lloyds, Halifax, and Bank of Scotland, has been contacted for further input by the Mirror.

FT has highlighted that NatWest and Barclays ceased their factoring services a few years back, while HSBC has recently tightened its eligibility criteria for similar services.

This year, Lloyds has made significant alterations to its services. Customers can no longer deposit cheques using a pay-in slip and now must utilize their debit card along with entering their PIN for deposits. Additionally, the option to deposit cheques at local Post Offices has been completely removed, mandating customers to visit Lloyds, Halifax, or Bank of Scotland branches or resort to mobile banking for cheque deposits.

Furthermore, Lloyds has raised the monthly fee for its Club Lloyds packaged bank account from £3 to £5, with the fee being waived if monthly deposits total £2,000 or more. The Club Lloyds account offers various benefits, including lifestyle perks like a Disney+ subscription, cinema tickets, or discounts on food and drink brands.

Moreover, customers with Club Lloyds Silver or Club Lloyds Platinum accounts have to pay an additional fee on top of the standard monthly charge. The Silver account incurs an extra £11.50 monthly, while the Platinum account requires an additional £22.50.

On a positive note, Lloyds has eliminated debit card foreign currency fees for transactions in the local currency, although fees may apply if transactions are made in pound sterling.