Lloyds bank customers have been warned of plans for a big change to services.

Under the new proposals customers at Lloyds Banking Group could receive a reduced service.

It is reported that account holders could be placed into different tiered groups based on how profitable they are deemed to be to the bank.

Those in the lowest-tier would face longer waiting times on the phone, be dealt with by less experienced call handlers, be less likely to get same-day appointments, and be encouraged to use apps to solve their problems rather than telephoning a branch.

Times and Star:

It is understood around 30 per cent of Lloyds customers would fall into the lowest tier.

They will include pensioners and people who have assets and savings, but do not go overdrawn or buy other financial products, such as loans or insurance policies, which deliver profits for the bank.

The changes, reported by the Mail on Sunday, would impact customers of Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, all run by Lloyds Banking Group.

James Daley, founder of campaign group Fairer Finance, hit out at the proposed plans.

He said: “You can't have a secret algorithm that discriminates against 10 million customers across an entire product range."

A Lloyds spokesman said the group was "looking to deepen relationships with existing customers and develop a mass affluent offering".

They added: "This means we will continually look at ways to tailor what we offer to meet the changing needs of all of our customers."