Banking giant Lloyds today revealed it was on “heightened alert” for cyber attacks from Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.
Boss Charlie Nunn said preparations were discussed in a meeting between the Government and banking industry leaders on Wednesday,
“We’ve been on heightened alert... internally around our cyber risk controls and we’ve been focused on this now for quite a while,” he said, as Lloyds Banking Group announced its annual results.
As primarily UK-focused, Nunn said Lloyds was not very exposed directly to Russia but had nonetheless been checking its controls and preparing for stricter sanctions.
Lloyds’ share price fell this morning amid fears the Ukraine crisis could ultimately hit the UK economy and consumer confidence.
The investor jitters came despite Lloyds reporting profits jumped from £1.2billion to £6.9billion last year.
Results were boosted by booking a £1.2billion credit from loans it thought might have turned sour during the depth of the Covid pandemic, along with strong demand for mortgages.
But it revealed charges for past misdeeds of £1.3billion over the year, including £600million for the HBOS Reading scandal, which took place before the financial crisis.
The group also said it would buy back £2billion of its own shares.
Setting out plans for the future, Nunn pledged the bank would spend £4billion over five years on growing sectors, such as wealth management and online business banking.
It comes months after the banking giant announced plans to close 48 more branches across England and Wales, including seven Halifax outlets.
The lender attributed the proposed closures to changing customer habits, with 18million of its 25million customers now banking online.
Around 178 jobs are at risk as a result of the decision, with the closures to take place until April this year.
It will take the total number of Lloyds Group branches from 1,523 to 1,475 and follows 44 closures in early 2021.
Lloyds said the branches had “significantly fewer customers regularly using them”.
But Union Unite accused the group of “betraying communities” that will be left with limited face-to-face support and 178 job cuts.
Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary said: “This is a classic example of putting profits before people.
“The announcement is a complete betrayal of the communities and staff who have long supported this highly profitable business.
She added: “This sector needs to start taking their corporate social responsibilities seriously and stop neglecting their obligations to their customers and workforce.
“Banks are leaving people behind in the rush to close bank branches and force consumers to go cashless to boost their mega-profits.”
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However the bank said all customers will still have alternative access to cash within a third of a mile.
In a statement, Lloyds said it is instead piloting a new network of Community Bankers to support customers with local community needs such as house-buying.
One day each week, a Community Banker will be available in a town centre location such as a library or bookshop, to support customers with account enquiries, making payments, PIN requests, online banking queries, and appointment requests.
Community Bankers are currently visiting eight locations.
Vim Maru, retail director for Lloyds Banking Group, said: “Like many other businesses, we’ve seen people using our branches less frequently in recent years, and this decline is continuing.
"Our branches remain a fundamental part of how we serve our customers but we need to ensure the size of our branch network reflects the number of customers wanting to use them.”
See the full list of branches closing down here.
