Lloyds TSB offers new account aimed at immigrant workers

Lloyds TSB (LSE: LLOY) has said it will introduce a new bank account aimed at Polish and other immigrant workers who send money back to family at home. The new Silver account includes a money transfer card that makes it easy and safe to send cash abroad. The card is pre-paid, not a debit card, so it does not draw money directly from the account. Instead, the account holder loads funds onto the card then sends it to a family member or designated friend in his or her home country, where it is then activated for use at ATMs and wherever Visa cards are accepted. The card, which has a limit of £750, can be refilled up to three times a day by the account holder.

Lloyds has found that recent Polish immigrants see sending money back to family at home is a top priority, and so has targeted the new account directly at this largest group among the 600,000 EU immigrants that have moved to the UK since 2004. Lloyds says that it has opened 100,000 new accounts for those recently arrived from Poland in the past year. It is not, however, the only bank to respond to the influx of Polish immigrants. HSBC (LSE: HSBA; NYSE: HBC; Euronext: HSBC; SEHK: 005) created a new Passport account last year, which offers inexpensive international money transfers. Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC; NYSE: BCS; TYO: 8642) has recruited Polish language speakers to work in selected branches.

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