Lloyds Banking Group is axing the Halifax brand, which has been a household name for 173 years.
Britain’s largest banking group has confirmed that existing Halifax customers will see their accounts changed to Lloyds, but has not specified an exact timeline.
The branches will be rebranded as Lloyds and the bank will stop offering new accounts under the Halifax name.
There is no change at the Bank of Scotland.
Customers who use the Halifax banking app will eventually have to switch to the Lloyds app, but they will be notified when they need to do so.
Halifax Intermediaries will become Lloyds Intermediaries in 2027, the lender told brokers in an email this morning.
The Halifax Permanent Benefit Building Society, as it was originally known, was founded in Halifax in December 1852.
During the Industrial Revolution, people moved to small towns to work in industry, but the sudden influx led to housing shortages.
Building societies, such as the Halifax, were launched to help workers save and earn interest or borrow money to buy houses.
In 1997, Halifax members voted to demutualize and become a bank, in what was the largest IPO on the British stock market, with 7.5 million shareholders.
In 2001, Halifax merged with Bank of Scotland to become HBOS, retaining both well-known brands.
In 2009, amid the fallout from the financial crisis, Lloyds acquired HBOS to form Lloyds Banking Group.
Trinity Financial product and communications manager Aaron Strutt says: “It’s a real shame that the Halifax brand is going out of business, especially since it was founded as a construction company and has been around for so long.
“The bank has a great reputation, especially in the mortgage world, but it may well have been a bit outdated, so I can understand why they made the change to bring the bank in line with Lloyds.
“For many people, this will take some time to digest because the Halifax name has played a major role in the banking world for so long.
“Many of the well-known banks and building societies have either been bought up by the major lenders or gone bankrupt in recent years.”