Britain’s Lloyds bank to cut 9,000 jobs

A pedestrian sign stands near a branch of Lloyds Bank in London, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014. The State-backed Lloyds Banking Group is to cut 9,000 jobs over the next three years as part of plans which will see the closure of some high street branches in a bid to improve efficiency, it is announced Tuesday.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) A pedestrian sign stands near a branch of Lloyds Bank in London, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014. The State-backed Lloyds Banking Group is to cut 9,000 jobs over the next three years as part of plans which will see the closure of some high street branches in a bid to improve efficiency, it is announced Tuesday.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

By Associated Press October 28, 2014 2 min read

LONDON (AP) – Britain’s Lloyds Banking Group said Tuesday it will eliminate 9,000 jobs over the next three years and shut some 200 branches in a bid to improve efficiency.

The group has been partly owned by the British taxpayer since it was rescued during the financial crisis and has been under pressure to cut costs.

Its executives had pledged three years ago to keep its number of branches at a consistent level despite the cuts, but Chief Executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said Tuesday that strategy has now changed.

The closures will impact roughly a tenth of its network of 2,000 branches. The bank said many of the closures would be in town centers where the bank has more than one facility.

Lloyds expects customers to continue shifting to online services and self-service machines instead of having face-to-face contact in branches. It plans to invest 1 billion pounds ($1.61 billion) in digital technology in the next three years.