Halifax name to disappear from UK high streets as Lloyds moves to one brand #

Lloyds Banking Group has confirmed it will retire the Halifax name, ending the brand’s 173-year presence and folding one of Britain’s best-known banking names into Lloyds across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

According to Marketing Week, which reported the group’s announcement, Halifax was acquired by Lloyds in 2009, and its retirement means Lloyds will become the group’s lead consumer brand outside Scotland. Bank of Scotland will continue as the flagship brand for Scottish customers.

The transition will be gradual rather than immediate. The group said existing Halifax customers will be moved onto the Lloyds app in the coming months, with their accounts rebranded to Lloyds over time. Customers will keep the same sort codes and account numbers, and their Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection will be unaffected. Halifax has stopped opening accounts for new-to-bank customers.

Halifax’s roughly 190 branches, part of a wider Lloyds estate of about 531 sites, will switch to Lloyds signage during 2027. Where a Lloyds branch already sits nearby, customers will instead be served by that existing location. The group said no branch closures and no job losses are tied to the announcement.

A spokesperson told Marketing Week the move allows the group to invest behind a single lead consumer brand, making banking simpler for customers while continuing to support them through their preferred channels. The spokesperson added that the rebrand would have no impact on marketing colleagues. Marketing Week noted that Lloyds’ brand health, as measured by YouGov’s BrandIndex, currently sits slightly ahead of Halifax’s.

Former Halifax customers are set to gain access to Lloyds features, including an AI-driven financial coaching tool and the Lloyds Rewards scheme, as well as products such as Club Lloyds and Lloyds Premier.

The change also extends to Halifax’s mortgage intermediary arm, which is scheduled to rebrand as Lloyds Intermediaries from 2027. The group described the decision as part of a wider effort to simplify its retail banking operations under a single lead brand.

Halifax traces its roots to the Halifax Permanent Benefit Building Society, founded in West Yorkshire in 1852. It later merged with Bank of Scotland to form HBOS in 2001 before being absorbed into Lloyds during the financial crisis.

Source: Marketing Week