Lloyds leave us standing
We thought other readers should know that Lloyds Bank has written to inform us that it is ceasing overseas standing order money transfer to France from November.
We have used this for transferring money from the UK to our French bank account (Credit Agricole) for 25 years.
There was no explanation in the letter as to why the service was being stopped and a visit to our local Lloyds branch and various telephone calls to its customer services department and overseas money transfer division failed to provide an explanation for this sudden and unannounced decision.
N. and G. Annells,
Hampshire and Mayenne
Editor’s note: We contacted the bank and a spokesman said the service actually stopped in 2005 but 1,000 existing customers had been allowed to continue with it.
The bank has now informed them it is stopping, apologising for the inconvenience. He did not specify the reason.
International payments at £9.50, not including any receiving fees from the French bank, can be used instead and, while the UK is in the EU/transition period, SEPA direct debits can be used to pay firms in France.
