Lloyds Banking Group to pursue a multi-brand strategy

Lloyds Banking Group is to follow a multi-brand strategy. The approach was announced by Group Chief Executive, António Horta-Osório at an internal conference and confirms that the Group will continue to operate through its main commercial brands of Lloyds TSB, Halifax and Bank of Scotland.

In an industry leading move, the Group has also set out a series of clear, measurable targets to reduce the number of customer complaints.

Lloyds Banking Group is the first financial services company to explicitly target a reduction in the number of complaints it receives. This is the latest move in a significant investment programme the Group has undertaken to improve service.

Reducing Customer Complaints

Lloyds Banking Group aims to reduce the overall number of complaints it receives by 20 per cent - from the first six months of 2010 to the same period in 2011 (excluding complaints received about Payment Protection Insurance).

Reducing the number of complaints referred to the Ombudsman

The Group is also committing to a 20 per cent reduction in the number of complaints customers escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service ("FOS") because they do not feel that their complaint has been resolved satisfactorily.

Improving complaint handling will also reduce the number of complaints escalated to FOS which are then overturned in favour of the customer. The Group aims to reduce the number of complaints overturned by FOS to less than two in five by the end of June 2011 and then, again, to one in five by the end of this year.

António Horta-Osório, Group Chief Executive said: "We have some great brands with their own unique histories and different customer bases. Our multi-brand approach recognises those differences and we will build compelling propositions according to those customers.

"I am committed to improving the quality of the service we give to our customers. And to demonstrate that commitment we have announced a set of stretching targets to reduce our complaints. This ensures we are focused on getting things right for customers, and where we don't, putting it right quickly and efficiently."