Lloyds Bank to Retire Halifax Brand After 173 Years

Lloyds Bank will discontinue the Halifax brand after 173 years, the company confirmed. The transition will see all Halifax customer accounts eventually changed to Lloyds.

Halifax began as a building society in 1852. It was rumored earlier this year that the brand might be phased out. A Lloyds Banking Group spokesperson stated at the time that the company "regularly look[s] at the role our brands play in supporting our customers."

The move is expected to lead to the closure of branches located in close proximity, as an analysis indicates 178 locations currently have both a Lloyds and a Halifax branch nearby. Lloyds Banking Group also owns the Bank of Scotland brand, which has also seen significant branch closures over the past decade.

Earlier in the year, Lloyds announced plans to shut 95 sites between May 2026 and March 2027. This included 53 Lloyds branches, 31 Halifax branches, and 11 Bank of Scotland branches, reducing the total number of open branches to 610, down from approximately 1,500 in 2015.

Halifax demutualized and became a publicly traded company in 1997, transforming from a building society to a bank. This move created 7.5 million new shareholders, with former Halifax Building Society members receiving a minimum of 200 free shares if they held £100 or more in their accounts.

In 2001, Halifax merged with Bank of Scotland to form Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) plc. The combined entity grew substantially and became a dominant force in the UK banking sector.

However, HBOS was acquired by Lloyds in 2008 during the financial crisis in a government-brokered rescue deal. The acquisition followed significant financial difficulties for HBOS, largely due to its exposure to the collapsing UK property market. HBOS shares, which had peaked at £11.50 in February 2007, had fallen to below 180p by the time the Lloyds deal was announced on September 17, 2008.

Lloyds has stated that the transition will not affect customers' account numbers or their Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection, which currently covers up to £120,000 per individual.

Lloyds and Halifax operate in the same market in England and Wales, while Bank of Scotland serves as Lloyds Banking Group's sole brand in Scotland. The future of the TSB brand, owned by Santander following a £2.65 billion acquisition, is also uncertain, with rumors suggesting it may be retired and its operations merged under the Santander UK name.