00:00The end of an era hasn't been confirmed, but it's one you can possibly bank on.
00:05It could be all change on Britain's high streets, as the Halifax standalone brand may be axed by Lloyds Banking
00:12Group, who are assessing their future strategy.
00:15They run Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, the latter of which is understood to be safe as it's their
00:20only Scottish brand,
00:21but with both Halifax and Lloyds operating in England and Wales, bosses may phase out the 174-year-old Halifax
00:29name, transferring customers to Lloyds.
00:32The bank's origins can be traced to the Old Cock Inn in the West Yorkshire town, with the first branch
00:37opening in 1852.
00:39Halifax locals have been reflecting on the possibility of the bank vanishing, as well as the general state of banking
00:45in 2026.
00:47If I do bank with Lloyds, but it'd be a shame to see it go. It's part of our history
00:53as Halifax, you know.
00:55Well, we're named after, well, they're named after us, sorry. So, yeah, it'd be a bit of a shame.
01:01But if it's something Lloyds are going to do, there's not really much you can do to stop them.
01:06I've got family members that bank with the Halifax, and to be honest, I have banked with Yorkshire Bank my
01:12whole life,
01:13which had the exact same thing happen to it. It was melded into Virgin, which is now melding into another
01:19account.
01:20And I think, yeah, local banking systems that know and understand local people are just disappearing more and more
01:28and getting pulled into conglomerates that then, I mean, there's a big worry about ending up with a monopoly among
01:36systems like this.
01:37We've had it happen in other areas, and there's a concern about what that means for consumers
01:42and our ability to have a say in how our banking's run.
01:46The expenses, I suppose, of rent and things like that, that they weigh up.
01:49But, yeah, I mean, I think branches are generally going to be quite useful for, like, say, maybe older people
01:55as well,
01:56or people who struggle with kind of online banking and things like that.
01:58Online banking, no, no, I disagree with it, because it's just taken the, it's not just that, it's like online
02:08shopping.
02:09It's taken the sort of community away in a respect, people meeting each other, especially old people.
02:15I love Halifax. Absolutely love it. And always will, though.
02:22But the banking, the banking, you just can't, well, these days, all right, they've upgraded it,
02:29and you can't go in and put your checks in anymore, or you can't do this and you can't do
02:35that,
02:37because everything is online.
02:39Staff members as well is really kind of, that's another way that, you know, AI's involved,
02:45so taking away jobs. So I think it's a bit of a shame, really, to be honest.
02:49For now, the bank that was once known for giving extra may be around for some extra time.
02:56Lloyd's Banking Group say a final decision has not yet been made.
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