Axe to fall on 173 year old UK lender
Stephen Dalton 10 July 2026
One of the UK's oldest is about to disappear forever.
Wednesday last week marked the beginning of the end for an iconic 173 year old UK banking institution when the Lloyds Banking Group confirmed its plans to phase out Halifax as a standalone brand. The move is said to be part of a long running push by Lloyds to simplify the branding between its Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Lloyds divisions.
Halifax, one of the most recognisable and historic lenders on the UK high street, was set up in West Yorkshire in 1853 to address housing shortages at the height of the industrial revolution as workers migrated into small towns across England. In 1928 it became the largest building society in the world when it merged with a rival. Having demutualised in 1997, Halifax eventually became part of the Lloyds Banking Group 12 years later but retained its own identity and branch network.
The group, which currently has 531 branches overall, will start rebranding the 190 Halifax sites from early 2027. According to Lloyds no branches will be closed or jobs lost as a result of the changeover, although that remains to be seen in the long run.
No new accounts will be opened under the Halifax brand and the process of transitioning existing accounts to Lloyds will kick off in the coming days.
This move has proved particularly controversial in the West Yorkshire town from where the brand derived its name and it will interesting to see whether Lloyds' consolidation strategy will ultimately benefit or hurt the group.
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