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Lloyds Banking Group said today that it would axe another 650 jobs and shut a site in Nottingham as part of a raft of changes.

The part-nationalised group also revealed plans to close a 265-strong network of Halifax-branded counters based within firms such as solicitors and estate agencies in a move expected to hit a further swathe of workers, although not directly employed by Lloyds.

Lloyds said it had struck a deal with the Post Office to allow Halifax customers to pay in cash and cheques at the 12,000 PO branches.

Today’s job losses will largely hit insurance and back office based staff in Nottingham and Chester, according to the bank.

NEW YORK (AP) — IPhone users can now insure them against loss or accidents, but Consumer Reports says it isn’t worth it.

The AT&T authorized policy has a $12 monthly fee and a $199 deductible for the latest iPhone model.

Replacing a phone can be costly. Although the iPhone 4 costs $199 or $299 with a two-year contract with AT&T, customers would need to pay the full retail price of $599 or $699 to replace a phone in the middle of the contract.

Repairs aren’t cheap, either. One Apple retailer and repair shop in New York charges $149 to replace a cracked screen and $99 for a broken microphone or charging port.

But an insured owner who loses a phone after one year would have paid $144 in fees on top of the $199 deductible. That adds up to $343 — about half the price of a new phone.

Consumer Reports says if a iPhone is lost or damaged it’s better to buy a used phone or get an older one from a friend until the contract is up.

Last week I wrote about my experience getting denied by an online bank with an international wire transfer. I talked about the importance of figuring out if your bank allows these wires because if you need them in a dire situation, it’s going to be too late and your loan is going to go unpaid or your emergency is going to be difficult to fund.

I found it odd that the big banks – Chase, Bank of America, Citi – all accepted these wires, but the online banks – Ally, ING Direct, FNBO Direct – didn’t. I’m sure a lot of people have been inconvenienced by this fine print rule and it just doesn’t seem like something that the state-of-the-art online banks would omit from their banks.

So when researching the last post about international wire transfers, I asked FNBO Direct why exactly they didn’t accept international wire transfers. They were kind enough to write back with this answer:

“Since FNBO Direct is an online bank, we need to be able to validate the source of all funds. As an on-going effort

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