A customer told Lloyds the change was “completely incomprehensible”
Lloyds Bank has replied to some fierce backlash over its decision to scrap an online account feature. A disgruntled customer contacted the bank demanding an explanation, branding the policy shift as “completely incomprehensible”.
The customer got in touch with Lloyds over social media to voice their complaint. They said they were “very tempted to follow Martin Lewis advice and switch bank” despite having been a loyal customer for decades. Consumer champion Martin Lewis regularly urges account holders to think about switching if a better deal is available elsewhere. Many banks are currently dangling switch incentives to lure in new customers.
For instance, Barclays will hand you £200 while Nationwide Building Society is offering a £175 payment, with several other providers also putting forward attractive incentives.
‘Inexplicable’ change
The customer’s frustration was because Lloyds had “inexplicably removed the nicknames I’ve used on my various accounts and cards for the last 35+ years in online banking”. They pressed the bank to explain why it had scrapped the feature.
Lloyds initially replied with an apology for the customer’s experience, urging them to send a direct message regarding their complaint. However, the disgruntled customer pointed out they had already been in touch with Lloyds about the matter.
They claimed to have received a letter from the complaints department “saying I just have to put up with it, there’s no longer an option to use nicknames in online banking”. Lloyds responded to the customer: “I am sorry to hear you are unhappy with this decision, this is a business decision which has been made.
“While renaming won’t be available online, you can still view and manage nicknames in the app.” The customer was far from satisfied with this response.
‘Completely incomprehensible’
They fired back: “It’s still completely incomprehensible. What possible reason is there for such a ‘business decision’? And – as you’re probably aware – if you deal with someone’s accounts with power of attorney you cannot use the app.”
The customer later revealed that they hold power of attorney for their mother and were unable to use the app to manage her accounts, meaning the loss of nicknames would make it “even more difficult to differentiate between her accounts and mine”. Responding once more, Lloyds offered further clarification regarding the change.
The bank said: “You can still rename accounts in the mobile app, but nicknames have been removed from online banking and credit card renaming is no longer available. We appreciate this won’t fully help if you rely on online banking due to power of attorney.”
The customer continued to voice their frustration, arguing that removing the nickname feature is “really unhelpful if you run a small business and have several accounts”. The person asked how they could get the decision reversed.
Lloyds responded: “We understand this matters. Changes like this are carefully considered, and while we’re not able to reverse it directly, we understand it may not meet everyone’s needs.”
The bank also indicated if the customer wanted to submit additional feedback or escalate the issue, they could contact them via the complaints section on the group’s website. Lloyds had previously faced criticism from a customer regarding the change.
