Britain's biggest bank just proved that what neobanks have always stood for is now the future of the entire industry.
Lloyds Bank, which serves 28 million customers across the UK through its Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland brands, has announced that branch staff will no longer open joint, premium, or student accounts in person. Customers wanting to switch from another lender will also be directed online. Instead of sitting down with a member of staff, people will be pointed to the app or the website.
The changes are expected to roll out from March 2026 and complete by May.
What exactly is changing at Lloyds?
According to internal documents seen by The Telegraph, Lloyds branches will stop handling a significant list of services that were previously available in person. Premium Club accounts, overdraft and bankruptcy appeals, executor accounts for estates — all moving online or to the phone. Even basic accounts, designed specifically for people in financial difficulty, are part of the overhaul.
This comes alongside the closure of over 100 additional branches, on top of the 1,470 already shut over the past decade. Lloyds will be left with just 610 branches once all planned closures are complete. Last week, the bank also quietly removed the option for customers to deposit cheques at Post Office counters.
CEO Charlie Nunn put it plainly: 97% of all interactions with Lloyds customers are now digital. The bank has hired 4,000 people in tech and data roles over the past few years.
The neobank model is now the banking standard
Not long ago, "no branches" was the main criticism levelled at digital challenger banks. Revolut, Monzo, Starling — they launched with zero physical presence, and traditional banks used that as a competitive argument. "Come to us, we have real branches."
That argument is now dead.
Since January 2015, UK banks and building societies have closed 6,694 branches — roughly 53 per month according to consumer group Which?. Cash now accounts for less than 10% of all transactions in the UK for the first time ever. The shift is structural, not cyclical.
What neobanks understood from day one — that digital-first banking is cheaper, faster, and more convenient — is now being adopted by the legacy players who spent years resisting it. The difference? Neobanks have been building and refining this model for a decade. They didn't pivot to digital. They were born in it.
What this means if you bank in the UK
If you're still with a traditional bank waiting to be served at a branch, that branch may not be there much longer — and even if it is, many of the services you relied on won't be available there anyway.
For the nearly 5 million Lloyds customers who don't yet use digital services, this is a forced transition. For everyone else, it's simply confirmation of a trend that has been building for years.
The upside: the UK is home to one of the most competitive neobank markets in the world. From Monzo and Starling to Chase UK, Atom Bank, Bunq and beyond, there are more options than ever for people who want a banking experience that is genuinely built around them — not around branch opening hours.
👉 Compare the best neobanks and online banks available in the United Kingdom on neobanque.ch/uk
Source: The Telegraph, 26 February 2026