From mild to wild: What impact will AI have on banking jobs? June 10, 2026 Top banking bosses have issued their AI verdict after Standard Chartered stunned the sector with plans for sweeping job cuts last month. In this week’s column Samuel Norman looks at whether a reckoning could be on the horizon. The big-name banker must have known how the conversation would go when he arrived for lunch with [...]
Lloyds taps $160bn fintech giant to boost small business tech June 9, 2026 Lloyds Bank has sealed a partnership with a $160bn (£119bn) fintech giant to ramp up its payments tech for small-business clients. The blue-chip banking giant has agreed a tie-up with Stripe that will see Lloyds leverage the fintech’s payment infrastructure to provide a suite of tools for its small-business customers. The new offering, named Lloyds Accept, [...]
‘Why single out banks?’: Santander chief hits out at UK tax regime June 8, 2026 The boss of Santander has branded the UK’s tax regime on banks as making “no economic sense” as speculation mounts that the industry could be turned to for a quick cash grab if the Labour government lurches to the left. Ana Botín, the chief executive of the Spanish banking giant, has said the UK tax [...]
Lloyds Bank and Halifax customers hit with app outage June 3, 2026 Lloyds Banking Group has been rocked with another outage as thousands of customers report issues with their online services. The financial services giant was flagged with a spike on the online outage tracker Downdetector at around 11:15am on Wednesday as users reported issues. Across the group – which includes Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland [...]
Top banks urge Rachel Reeves to expand small business lending scheme May 29, 2026 Top UK banks are lobbying Rachel Reeves to beef up the government’s small business lending scheme in a bid to unlock more capital to be lent to firms. A letter penned by UK Finance – the banking industry body that represents the likes of Barclays, Lloyds and Natwest – has called for the Chancellor to [...]
Curve swings to £9m loss as Lloyds takeover remains incomplete May 20, 2026 Curve has swung to a loss as the Apple Pay rival’s future faces uncertainty ahead of its takeover by Lloyds Banking Group. The digital wallet provider suffered a £9.5m loss in the 2024 financial year, a major drawback from its £3m profit the 12 months prior. The tide turned on Curve’s balance sheet as revenue [...]
UK finance workers weigh quitting over back-to-office mandates May 19, 2026 Financial services workers are weighing quitting their roles if their companies mandate office attendance amid a deepening feud between managers and employees. Nearly six in ten employees in the finance sector said requirements around their office presence is making them more likely to leave their role, according to new research from City recruiter Morgan McKinley. [...]
Rachel Reeves reforms ring-fencing in boost to Natwest and Lloyds May 18, 2026 Rachel Reeves has handed a major boost to the likes of Natwest and Lloyds with an overhaul of the ring-fencing regime in hopes to free up capital to be invested into the UK. The Treasury has unveiled a shakeup of the 15-year-old legislation, which requires major banks to separate their retail banking operations from their [...]
Reeves to overhaul ring-fencing regime in a bid to boost the UK economy May 16, 2026 The Treasury is set to unveil a sweeping overhaul of the ring-fencing regime next week, in a bid to protect depositors at the UK’s biggest retail banks, as ministers scramble to boost economic growth. According to reports in Sky News, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has signed off plans aimed at unlocking billions of pounds of additional [...]
AI in banks? It’s all marketing and FOMO May 13, 2026 As banks are rush to beef up their AI capacity Samuel Norman recounts the sentiment shared across the industry at a conference in Copenhagen last week. Like all sectors, banks are chasing the promises of AI. The industry is shrugging off growing fears around job losses and rushing to beef up their AI credentials. Last [...]