Lloyds Banking Group is cutting 640 jobs and shutting 23 branches in its latest activity to make the bank lean and cut costs. Trade union Unite said these cuts would hit IT and group staff as well as wealth management operations. Lloyds is more than two-thirds of the way through a strategy announced in October 2014 to cut 9,000 jobs. It is also closing 200 branches as part of the three-year plan as customers switch to online banking and some job functions become automated. The latest closures will bring the running total to 175. Lloyds said the net job losses resulting from the latest announcement totaled 525, with 115 jobs being created. The new branch closures will take place in October, though the group – which includes Halifax Bank of Scotland as well as Lloyds Bank – said it would still have the largest branch network in the UK.
