MSE News: Lloyds to sell branches to Co-op: what it means for you

poggs

My question is whether my sort code and account number will change.

I have memorised them and would not want them to change. Dont really care about moving from lloyds to coop as I tend to have a next to zero balance and rarely get much interest over a few pence a month.

JuicyJesus

smallfry27 wrote: »

I don't want to spread further alarm and despondency, but Money Box radio programme today said that if your account is held at a branch targetted for sale, Lloyds wouldn't be allowed to simply move you to a different Lloyds branch.

It'd probably be the same as it is with RBS' branch sale - they can move an account to another branch on the customer's instruction, but they can't encourage customers to do so or do it for them (that would defeat the purpose - the sale is of a functioning standalone bank, including its customers).

pqrdef

poggs wrote: »

My question is whether my sort code and account number will change.

If you move to the Co-op, seems inevitable.

If your branch is sold, but you stay with Lloyds, moving to another branch, you may be OK if the old and new branches are in the same cluster.


Incidentally, I've recently become a Co-op customer, and at no point has any mention been made of me or my account being assigned to any particular branch.

I did nominate my local branch when I joined Lloyds, but I've never been there. The branch named on my cheque book is a different one, 20 miles away, and I'm regularly pestered by advisors from a third branch, 15 miles away, trying to sell me something.

minimad1970

smallfry27 wrote: »

I don't want to spread further alarm and despondency, but Money Box radio programme today said that if your account is held at a branch targetted for sale, Lloyds wouldn't be allowed to simply move you to a different Lloyds branch. When any business changes hands, there is usually some agreement to stop the leaving owner from creaming off clients. So if you want to move, it could be a good plan to do it before the contracts between Lloyds and Coop are in place.

I have a Lloyds account at one of the branches that is being sold, when I asked in another branch about moving my account over they said pretty much the same. I already have a Co-Op account so would they just open another one in my name? Obviously I don't want two accounts the same.

smallfry27

poggs wrote: »

My question is whether my sort code and account number will change.

I have memorised them and would not want them to change. Dont really care about moving from lloyds to coop as I tend to have a next to zero balance and rarely get much interest over a few pence a month.

The Money Box programme said that Coop would take over the sort codes and numbers, so I assume if you do nothing, you automatically become a Coop customer with the same numbers.

System

They will probably allocate a coop sort code (08-xx-xx) for each branch that is transferred over as they will want to phase out the use of any LTSB (30-xx-xx/77-xx-xx) sort codes . The Scottish branches mostly use 87-xx-xx sort codes so they could either keep them or allocate those a coop code.

smallfry27 wrote: »

The Money Box programme said that Coop would take over the sort codes and numbers, so I assume if you do nothing, you automatically become a Coop customer with the same numbers.

pqrdef

smallfry27 wrote: »

The Money Box programme said that Coop would take over the sort codes and numbers, so I assume if you do nothing, you automatically become a Coop customer with the same numbers.

Hmm. All of my Lloyds accounts have sort codes, but they aren't all the same. Should they be? Could I get carved up? This could be more painful than I thought.

System

minimad1970 wrote: »

I have a Lloyds account at one of the branches that is being sold, when I asked in another branch about moving my account over they said pretty much the same. I already have a Co-Op account so would they just open another one in my name? Obviously I don't want two accounts the same.

I assume the sale will follow a similar process to the way the RBS branch sale is going (which is happening now so read the RBS threads for more background)

Lloyds cannot initiate the process of contacting it's customers to ask if they want to move their account so that they remain a Lloyds customer.

However, if your branch is being sold, you can contact Lloyds and insist that they move your account to a branch that will remain part of the Lloyds group. No bank should block such a request and the EU / authorities cannot block it either.
If any staff in the branch tell you a different story, that is probably because they do not know what they are taking about

EarthBoy

smallfry27 wrote: »

The Money Box programme said that Coop would take over the sort codes and numbers, so I assume if you do nothing, you automatically become a Coop customer with the same numbers.

What Money Box says doesn't count. It's only what the Co-op says that means anything, as they will be running the accounts after the transfer.

It is possible for them to continue using the same sort codes and account numbers, but I don't think it's very likely. They will have a mixture of 30-XX-XX and 77-XX-XX sort codes, and these ranges will still be in use by Lloyds, and it could be confusing for two completely different banks to use the same sort code ranges.

EarthBoy

pqrdef wrote: »

Hmm. All of my Lloyds accounts have sort codes, but they aren't all the same. Should they be? Could I get carved up? This could be more painful than I thought.

They would only be the same sort code if they are held at the same branch, but with Lloyds it gets confusing because some branches have more than one sort code. Where branches have been closed the accounts have been transferred to a different branch which then operates using multiple sort codes. The list of branches on their website shows the sorts codes for each one, and some branches have several of them.

If some of the sort codes are being transferred, and some of them aren't, then you will have some accounts that stay with Lloyds and some transfer to the Co-op.