UK-based Lloyds Bank has entered a partnership with British payments company PayPoint Group to become its main card acquiring partner. PayPoint announced on 20 March 2024 that this expanded collaboration is anticipated to launch fully in the third quarter of the year.

According to PayPoint, this agreement will involve a substantial investment into Lloyds' card payments division, Cardnet. The partnership aims to provide merchants with enhanced banking and card services, which will include card payments and a 12-month fee-free Lloyds business account, among other benefits. PayPoint stated that this initiative is geared towards improving support for its small business and retailer customers.

Other developments from Lloyds Bank and PayPoint In other news, Lloyds Bank has joined the WaveBL electronic trade documentation platform in February 2024 to unlock new trade efficiencies and sustainability benefits for its clients by using eBLs. Through this new partnership, Lloyds Bank’s clients will now be able to securely transfer fully digital, blockchain-based electronic Bills of Lading (eBLs) between organisations on the WaveBL network, which boasts members in 136 countries and includes four of the world’s ten largest container shipping carriers. In the same month, Lloyds Bank released its latest data on romance scams and it shows that the number of people falling victim to these scams has increased by 22% in 2023 compared to the previous year.

The average amount lost to these scams was GBP 6,937, which is lower than the previous year's average loss of GBP 8,237. As for PayPoint, it announced the expansion of its partnership with UK-based Yodel and Vinted in the Collect+ network in November 2023. The alliance was focused on the UK's main out-of-home parcel collection, drop-off, and delivery service, following the growth in high demand for previously owned fashion, with consumers making more sustainable choices and greener delivery services.

Thus, the expansion aimed to increase the number of transactions processed through the Collect+ Store-to-Store service and to streamline the consumer experience across the UK's 10,000+ retailers, delivered via PayPoint as a partner. PayPoint also launched Pay By Bank in September 2023 – a solution that offers bank-to-bank transfers as a PISP to Pay-As-You-Go energy customers. The launch came as a response to the number of British individuals who have started using Open Banking.

According to Open Banking Limited, residents made 11.4 million Open Banking payments in July 2023, a 9% increase on the previous month. .