- Lloyds Banking Group is retiring the 173-year-old Halifax brand.
- Customer accounts will move to Lloyds over time with no change to sort codes or account numbers.
- Halifax branches will be rebranded from 2027, with no job cuts linked to the move.
For generations, Halifax has been one of the most recognisable names on the UK high street. That chapter is now coming to an end.
Lloyds Banking Group has confirmed it will phase out the 173-year-old Halifax brand, replacing it with Lloyds as part of a wider effort to simplify its banking business. Existing Halifax customers will gradually become Lloyds customers, while new accounts will no longer be opened under the Halifax name.
The move marks the end of one of Britain's oldest financial brands. Lloyds said customers do not need to take any action and will be contacted as the transition progresses. The group also stressed that account numbers, sort codes and Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protection will remain unchanged.
The end of a historic name
Founded in the West Yorkshire town of Halifax, the lender began life as the Halifax Permanent Benefit Building Society and issued its first mortgage in 1853. It grew into one of the UK's largest building societies and, by 1928, had become the biggest of its kind in the world.
The organisation later became a listed bank before merging with Bank of Scotland in 2001. After the financial crisis, Lloyds acquired HBOS in a government-backed rescue supported by £20 billion in taxpayer funding, bringing Halifax into what is now Lloyds Banking Group.
The banking group has operated under the Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland brands since 2009. Under the latest restructuring, Lloyds will become the group's sole retail banking brand across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, while Bank of Scotland will continue to operate in Scotland.
What changes for customers?
Lloyds said Halifax customers will keep the services they already use, including the mobile banking app, branch staff, account numbers and sort codes. Around 190 Halifax branches will either be rebranded as Lloyds or merged with nearby Lloyds branches from 2027. The group, which operates 531 branches across its brands, said no branches will close because of the rebranding and no job losses are being announced.
Jas Singh, Lloyds Banking Group's chief executive of consumer relationships, reportedly said Halifax customers would keep "everything they know and love" while gaining access to the wider range of products and services offered under the Lloyds brand.
The decision follows a strategic review that began earlier this year. Speculation about Halifax's future gathered pace after Lloyds introduced shared branch access across its brands and standardised staff uniforms, making the distinction between Halifax and Lloyds less visible.
While the banking group said it remains committed to Halifax and the wider Yorkshire and Humber region, where around 3,000 employees are based, the disappearance of the Halifax name is likely to be an emotional moment for many long-standing customers. The brand has been part of Britain's banking landscape for more than 170 years and survived everything from the building society era to the global financial crisis.
