Shopping black spot

sir – It’s not only cash purchases being phased out (Letters, August 23). Lloyds Bank has abruptly decided that its customers can no longer shop online without a mobile phone to hand. To conclude an online transaction, a four-digit code is sent to a mobile.

I live in a mobile black spot with no reception. That cuts no ice with the bank. Its message is clear: no mobile, no online shopping.

Dr Penelope Upton

Lighthorne, Warwickshire

sir – In June you published a letter from a treasurer of a small club that had been threatened with closure of its account with HSBC due to inactivity caused by Covid.

As a signatory on a community account, I’ve been notified that from November all such accounts will become charitable bank accounts, used normally by charities and not-for-profit organisations. These will carry a monthly fee of £5. Cash paid into and taken out of them over the counter will be charged at 0.4 per cent of the value deposited or withdrawn. Cheques paid into and taken out over the counter will be charged at 40p per cheque.

The cumulative effect of all these changes will be unsustainable for many small clubs and societies. I assume all the high-street banks will follow, so where are such clubs to turn for an affordable banking facility?

Amanda Hume

Sutton Coldfield

sir – I was disturbed to read that the contactless payment limit is going up to £100 in October (report, August 28). This is indeed “a thief ’s dream”.

I had the contactless feature removed on my credit card and main debit card but retained it on another account in which I keep a small amount of money for situations like paying for buses in Wales.

You do not have to have contactless. In fact when my purse was stolen in 2019 the bank security person said “Oh, good”, when I told her it was not contactless. Why can we not choose what our own contactless limit is? Why does everyone has to be set at £100?

Janet Simpson

Craven Arms, Shropshire