Lloyds Banking Group plans to cut a further £2bn in costs over four years while investing £13bn by 2030 in technology, including artificial intelligence, to improve efficiency and growth. The strategy signals a broader shift beyond traditional lending, but raises questions over staff roles and branches because the bank has not specified potential job losses.

The bank plans AI-supported financial advice, personalised customer offers and tools for relationship managers, while AI and blockchain could reduce mortgage approval times to about three days. Lloyds also aims to expand corporate and institutional banking in the US and Europe, develop a one-stop app for car and electric-vehicle services, and reported second-quarter profits of £2.3bn, up 14% year on year.