Lloyds TSB will be putting the sale of the current account packages it offers on hold. Although the bank denies that this has anything to do with mis-selling of packages, a whistleblower has claimed otherwise, and it is has made this decision suspiciously soon after a number of other high street banks have been accused of using misleading sales practices and pushing customers into buying products that are worthless to them.
Whilst loans and savings accounts are still available through the bank, the pause of sales on packaged accounts means that the institution will not be offering bank accounts that come with extras, such as travel insurance, personal belongings insurance or any other “perk” that the customer can pay a bit extra for.
Recent reports have revealed a highly pressured sales culture in some high street banks, with employees earning commission on their sales and being threatened with redundancy if they fail to meet their sales targets. This has gotten the banks a lot of bad press, and it may be the case that Lloyds is nipping the practice in the bud before the lid is blown on them as well. However, Lloyds have denied that the packages are being paused over fears of mis-selling.
This news has also emerged after it was revealed that fewer than one in three customers actually makes use of the extras on their accounts, which has triggered the fear that they are being misled as to the usefulness of them.
Lloyds has said that it will “amend the process” by which these products are sold but has not given a definite date or any real details. The Financial Services Authority has also declined to comment, which either means there is an ongoing investigation or that they are aware of the issue but confident that Lloyds is taking care of it. That, or there will be an announcement in a few days.
Whatever the case, it seems that Lloyds has become at least a little self-aware and begun adjusting potentially unethical practices before they explode all over the front pages of the national press.