Lloyds bank to focus on middle class

MEM62

[Deleted User] said:

Zanderman said:

As Section62 points out, this is a quote from the DM, and anything from the DM needs to be taken with a very big pinch of salt. Not a newspaper I'd ever rely on for accuracy!

The equating of earnings to 'class' is a good demo of that lack of accuracy. It's lazy and/or deliberately provocative journalism. You can be 'middle class' without earning over £75k and you can be 'working class' and earn over £75k.

Similarly the OP suggesting that people earning £75k would want to have private banking is a huge, and probably totally inaccurate, generalisation.  Why assume a desire for private banking and to move away from 'pleb' banking? Normal banking does everything most people, including those earning £75k, need to do. And £75k, whilst it seems a lot, does not necessarily imply high net worth, every penny might go on outgoings.   

Well I'd struggle to define myself as working class earning 75k, I struggle now and I don't earn that much.

This is a debate that I always find interesting.  In my view, if you are required to work to support yourself, even with a £75K salary, you are working class.  My wife and I are good earners but I would never consider myself anything other than working class.   

stuart746

prowla said:

What does a "premier" banking service offer?

A high fee for not very much. Lloyds premier fee is about £25 a month, when you get the separate benefits for about half that.
Banks create 'exclusive' sounding accounts to generate income and sell you other services. Best avoided. 

Se1Lad

stuart746 said:

prowla said:

What does a "premier" banking service offer?

A high fee for not very much. Lloyds premier fee is about £25 a month, when you get the separate benefits for about half that.
Banks create 'exclusive' sounding accounts to generate income and sell you other services. Best avoided. 

Do you mean Lloyds Platinum rather than Lloyds Premier?

stuart746

Se1Lad said:

Do you mean Lloyds Platinum rather than Lloyds Premier?

In my naivety I used to have a Lloyds Premier account, which they withdrew from the market approx 2015 (?), and it was the same account they used for their private banking clients. The account still exists as legacy. The threshold was quite low - around £100k in the account - but they updated this from what I can see split the fee paying accounts into private banking and more mainstream consumer (e.g. lloyds platinum etc).

Se1Lad

stuart746 said:

Se1Lad said:

Do you mean Lloyds Platinum rather than Lloyds Premier?

In my naivety I used to have a Lloyds Premier account, which they withdrew from the market approx 2015 (?), and it was the same account they used for their private banking clients. The account still exists as legacy. The threshold was quite low - around £100k in the account - but they updated this from what I can see split the fee paying accounts into private banking and more mainstream consumer (e.g. lloyds platinum etc).

Was it free for private clients or did everyone have to pay the £25?  With HSBC premier for example you don’t have to pay for the travel insurance etc, provided you meet their premier criteria 

stuart746

Se1Lad said:

Was it free for private clients or did everyone have to pay the £25?  With HSBC premier for example you don’t have to pay for the travel insurance etc, provided you meet their premier criteria 

Good question, not sure I can recall. I think I was always charged the fee even when I had qualifying funds in the account (and their savings account called 'premier investment'). I presume high value clients would be fee exempt, but the bank likely benefits in other ways.

jimjames

droberts26 said:

It is part of the recent strategy update for Lloyds Banking Group, this from 24/02/22 from Charlie Nunn

we will create a new mass affluent offering to grow in this attractive and under-served market segment across banking, protection and investments.

https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/insights/next-chapter-for-lloyds-banking-group.html
https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/who-we-are/our-strategy.html

So hardly "secret" as Mail are trying to suggest

WillPS

Deleted_User said:

WillPS said:

Deleted_User said:

Halifax is their mass market/challenger brand and Lloyds is their upmarket/traditional brand - with BOS straddling both.

Mass-affluent akin to HSBC or Barclays Premier is probably their weak point as their next step up is Lloyds or BOS Private Banking. 

How does Bank of Scotland straddle both in any real sense?

All their advertised products are aligned closely with Lloyds Bank.

Their products are neither aligned with Lloyds or Halifax. 

I'm not getting in to another tedious definition argument with you - but unless your definition of 'alignment' is 'the same as', they absolutely are aligned. It's a subset of the Lloyds offering - with some tweaks (i.e. Vantage is the same structure as Club without perks and with a lower pay in requirement) and adjustments (credit card rates).

It is far closer in terms of alignment than it is to Halifax.

kaMelo

Section62 said:

Deleted_User said:

So says the Daily Mail

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/markets/article-10630515/Memo-reveals-Lloyds-strategy-drum-sales-middle-class.html

Lloyds Banking Group has hatched a secret plan to turbocharge sales of its services to well-heeled, middle-class customers, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. 
New boss Charlie Nunn has devised a growth strategy putting what the bank has described as its 'mass affluent' customers – typically people earning more than £75,000 – at the centre of its business. 
According to an internal memo, the FTSE100 lender will merge its private banking division, which caters for wealthier individuals, with its more broadly focused consumer relationships arm. 

Personally if true, I think it is a stupid idea. People earning 75k plus is a minority. Also if you are earning 75k, why would you go to Lloyds. I know a lot of private banks have 100-150k requirement, but even earring 75k other banks will allow you to become a private customer. If you want to become a private customer, you don't want to be on the same bank as the "plebs" (of which I am one by the way), that is the whole point. 

Because they've launched products that are more attractive to you (=people with higher incomes) than those provided by other banks?

Notwithstanding this news is reported in the Mail, I'd read the final paragraph as indicating the faux-private banking division will be downgraded, rather than the "plebs" division going upmarket.

Perhaps this means the remaining Lloyds branches will have a butler on the door directing "plebs" to the Halifax down the road?

I couldn't help but chuckle at that sentence as my local Lloyds and Halifax actually are on the same road about 200 metres apart. I've got a vision of some burly bloke in a dodgy suit calling out, "you're not middle class, you're not coming in"

Marchitiello

First a bit of clarity:

Lloyds had a fee paying “premier”account that has been closed to new applicant for quite a while (https://www.lloydsbank.com/current-accounts/all-accounts/premier-account.html) but those who had it could keep it. Similarly to the old Barclays Premier account that was fee paying and was discontinued, with Barclays finding themselves on the news for telling customers they could not longer have it (https://www.aol.co.uk/2015/02/11/barclays-customers-told-theyre-too-poor-to-keep-premier-account/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvLnVrLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHoyhbQbQta6GjtR9ohkQ3uSTn48ulnNnbw5OVvYK_5oGAgs4A6zn0AljmjhfvKGjdc_649rRBIaxq0aar2NyMdOKgP0xEPh2WPgCqfU-Kw8qD8MiPg2CkT5PikLnVFOOjQKc9OD7IMmR5F4wv-n5fwEeTbdgJlO0aofihDi_d8I) (now years later they look to be going the other direction,  allowing customers that do not qualify based on income or saving, to pay a monthly fee for it).

Generally Premier accounts offer a bit more attentive service, quicker service time (Barclays and HSBC had dedicated counters for examples, and phone lines), as well well larger interest free overdraft, some better rates products, some higher ATM limits, etc.. even Santander Select fall somehow in this type of products.

So, although Lloyds did not have a specific Premier product since discontinuing the pay-for legacy one and having the next offer up, quite an higher criteria as “Private” account, they did indeed unofficially offer a better service if you did qualify on income (£75-100k), assigning you a Relationship Manager, with direct access to him/her. Again, quicker response time and generally a way to get things done quicker though the RM. 

However, is also not that recent news that Lloyds was also trying to accomodare better these “Premier” customer as they launched months ago (I did receive the letter invitation) the Investment service through Schroders https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/who-we-are/our-brands/schroders-personal-wealth.html