Fears for bank statements amid cash crunch

THE future of the humble paper bank statement is at stake amid a cash crunch at the main print supplier to Britain’s big high street lenders.

A finance industry-led rescue operation to save Leeds-based Communisis is being spearheaded by Lloyds but hopes of a salvage deal were fading this weekend. It is understood the advisory firm Interpath has been put on standby amid concerns that the company faces the growing threat of insolvency. An estimated 1,000 jobs are at risk.

Fears for the future of the business have been heightened after Lloyds took the unusual step of telling some customers they would be switched to online statements without explaining the reason.

“We’ve moved your statements from post to paper-free,” some customers were told in a letter earlier this month. Lloyds said the changes would take place from the beginning of November.

“We’re experiencing some issues and may not be able to send as many by post as we normally do,” the letter went on.

Lloyds, which currently owns The Telegraph but has no involvement in editorial matters, has already led one survival plan including a two-part “interim funding agreement”, totalling £13m, that other banks took part in.

Regulatory rules require banks to provide paper statements “or in another durable medium” if a customer requests one. Yet demand for paper statements is falling sharply. The most recent accounts for Communisis, for 2021, detailed a 20pc decline in its core printing business owing to the ongoing switch to digital communications. Lloyds declined to comment. Communisis was approached for comment.