Overview
- A North Cornwall customer, whose case surfaced Thursday, said a £900 HMRC cheque would not scan in the app and was refused at her Post Office.
- Lloyds stopped accepting cheque deposits at Post Office counters after updating terms last year and bringing the rule into force in January.
- The bank says customers can use its app, any Lloyds, Halifax or Bank of Scotland branch, or a freepost service, though some do not trust mailing large cheques.
- In rural Cornwall, the switch can mean a 75- or 94-mile round trip to a branch, according to the customer and her local postmistress.
- Cheques now make up about 0.1% of UK payments, and Which? notes roughly 6,000 branch closures since 2015 with Lloyds planning 95 more as banking hubs offer uneven services.