Lloyds TSB Group plc became Lloyds Banking Group plc on 19 January 2009, on acquiring HBOS plc.

Lloyds Banking Group plc is the largest retail bank in the UK, one in three people bank with them. Given the controversy surround the HBOS acquisition the company are trying push their strengths by stressing: "Lloyds TSB’s prudent approach to risk and HBOS’s leading savings, mortgage and bank assurance businesses."¹

Lloyds TSB and Halifax are the brands used in England, and Bank of Scotland the brand used in Scotland.

They rather vaguely suggest they maintain multiple brands to "serve customers in terms of pricing and positioning to cover and attract more of the market." What they mean, perhaps, is that people were quite happy with the companies that were taken over by Lloyds Banking Group so why change the names? Of course, that means that fomer companies are now simple brand names used by Lloyds Banking Group plc. 

Lloyds TSB and Halifax are the brands used in England, and Bank of Scotland the brand used in Scotland. Customers need to be aware of the bank behind the brand. For instance, it is unwise for a customer to keep too much money in any single bank because only the £50 000 is covered for bank collapse. For example, if you have £50 000 in Halifax and £50 000 in Bank of Scotland only half your money is covered.

Lloyds Banking Group plc hope to keep their costs down and improve services through "delivering efficiencies through shared services". An example of this was the closing of Cheltenham & Gloucester in June 2009². As Halifax and Lloyds TSB branches can deal with C&G customers, why have superfluous and expensive C&G branches on the high street? 

References

[1] Lloyds Banking Group plc "Company overview" on lloydsbankinggroup.com

[2] Lloyds closing all C&G branches, BBC NEWS, 
9 Jun 2009