Fraudsters using a phone scam to trick bank card holders into revealing their pin numbers stole £750,000 in the first four months of this year. This is the same amount stolen through this scam in the whole of last year. The fraudster telephones a bank customer, often someone elderly or vulnerable, telling them that their [...]
A director of the Bank of England has warned that official intervention could be considered to end the ‘dangerous myth of free in-credit banking’. Andrew Bailey has already spoken out against free banking in relation to the mis-selling of financial products. In a speech made available to media, he reiterated his concern, saying that it [...]
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has re-launched its Investment Account at a higher interest rate than it previously offered. The account now offers 0.75 per cent before tax, compared with between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent previously, depending on the account balance. Deposits and withdrawals on the account can no longer be made at Post [...]
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) will protect depositors in Santander, the scheme’s chief executive, Mark Neale, said. Deposits up to the value of £85,000 are protected by the scheme and savers with more than this amount should distribute the money across different banks and building societies, to ensure that the total amount is protected. [...]
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has secured a key agreement allowing the UK government to regulate its banks more strictly than other EU member states. The agreement was secured in Brussels between European Union finance ministers. It allows the UK to ring-fence retail banking operations from riskier investment banking operations in order to protect [...]
The average balance in an easy access savings account soared by 18 per cent to £1,858 in the first quarter of 2012, according to the ING Direct Consumer Savings Monitor. This is the highest level since the second quarter of 2010, when the typical balance in an easy access account was £2,050. It also represents [...]
Bank customers will be able to make donations to charity at 12,000 cash machines in the UK, under changes being launched this summer. The initiative is part of the government’s efforts to boost charitable giving and follows a consultation with UK banks. ATMs owned by Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank Machine will be the [...]
Banks’ customer service advisers are unclear about how to cancel Continuous Payment Authorities (CPAs) according to Consumer Focus. Customers are also confused about cancelling CPAs according to the consumer group, even though new regulations were introduced by the Financial Services Authority in 2009 to make the process simpler. The confusion could be causing some people [...]
Visa has delayed the UK launch of its V.me digital wallet until the autumn, rather than ‘early 2012’ as announced in November. Users of V.me will be able to store their card details in their digital wallet, and will be able to pay online via a smartphone, PC or tablet. V.me will be accessed through [...]
NBNK Investments Plc is reported to be talking to Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds with a view to increasing its bid for 632 branches being sold by Lloyds Banking Group. Lloyds has been in exclusive talks with the Co-operative Group over the ‘Project Verde’ business since December, but announced on Friday that these talks had [...]
Mobile operator O2 has become the latest entrant in the mobile payments market with the launch of a new app. The O2 Wallet app, which allows users to transfer up to £500 via text message, follows the launch of a similar service, Pingit, by Barclays. Barclays’ free ‘Pingit’ app allows the bank’s UK current account [...]
While Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) are growing in popularity, pension contributions continue to decline, prompting the Institute of Directors (IoD)to call for the government to take action on savings. According to data compiled by the IoD in association with Lucida, the amount paid into ISAs increased from £35.7 billion in 2007, to £43.9 billion in [...]
Barclays’ recently-launched Pingit app can now be used by customers of all UK banks and building societies. The app, which allows users to send and receive up to £300 between bank accounts, simply by entering the recipent’s phone number, has been available since February, but only to Barclays account holders. It reduces the need for [...]
NBNK Investments Plc, which was formed in 2010 to create a new British bank, has submitted a new offer to buy 632 Lloyds TSB branches from the Lloyds Banking Group. Lloyds is required to sell the branches under European Commission competition regulations. In December it named the Co-op Bank as preferred bidder for the so-called [...]
UK savers are putting more into their ISAs, with the average balance growing by 14 per cent to £8,949 over the year to January 2012, according to new research by the Halifax. The national average ISA balance has been on an upward trend since February 2009, when it stood at £7,269, with the 2011 figure [...]
The BBC today reported that around 10 per cent of Barclays’ customers are experiencing delays when they try to access online banking. The bank has been phasing in improvements to its site since January and the rebuilt site is proving slow to load today, which is one of the busiest days of the month for [...]
There are just a few days left for savers to use their Isa allowance for the current tax year, which ends on 5 April. However, savers who miss out on this year’s allowance may get almost as good a deal from an ordinary savings account according to new research by consumer group Which? Isas have [...]
The UK government is negotiating with Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth funds over the sale of a stake in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), the BBC reported yesterday. It is believed that Abu Dhabi, which is part of the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, could buy up to a third of the government’s 82% stake in the [...]
Michael Cohrs, a member of the Bank of England’s new financial policy committee (FPC) has warned of the danger of another financial crisis unless the ‘toxic culture’ inside banks is eradicated. Changes should include a reform of banks’ bonus systems, he said. The FPC was established to regulate UK banks, but Mr Cohrs suggested that [...]
The use of ATMs (automated teller machines) increased to record levels last year according to the latest figures from the Payments Council. UK customers made 2.87 billion transactions at ‘hole in the wall’ machines during the year, accounting for total withdrawals of £191 billion, an average of £67 per visit. The represented the highest value [...]
Phone fraudsters stealing bank card pins
Fraudsters using a phone scam to trick bank card holders into revealing their pin numbers stole £750,000 in the first four months of this year. This is the same amount stolen through this scam in the whole of last year. The fraudster telephones a bank customer, often someone elderly or vulnerable, telling them that their [...]
FSA rules out ban on interest-only mortgages
Speculation that the Financial Services Authority would ban interest-only mortgages as part of its Mortgage Market Review has proved to be unfounded. However, lenders will be required to monitor the performance of the investment product taken out by the customer to repay the mortgage at the end of its term. Investments are performing poorly because [...]
Bank of England may end free in-credit banking
A director of the Bank of England has warned that official intervention could be considered to end the ‘dangerous myth of free in-credit banking’. Andrew Bailey has already spoken out against free banking in relation to the mis-selling of financial products. In a speech made available to media, he reiterated his concern, saying that it [...]
Bank of England votes against more economic stimulus
The Bank of England voted against a further round of quantitative easing, at its latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Just one member, David Miles, voted for further asset purchase to encourage growth in the UK economy, while the other eight members voted to keep the Bank’s quantitative easing programme steady at £325bn. The minutes [...]
Catalogue debt growing says helpline
Calls from people concerned about their debts with mail order catalogues accounted for more than 12 per cent of all calls received by National Debtline last year, compared with just 8 per cent in 2007. More people were concerned about catalogue debt than about payday loans, mortgage or rent, according to the Money Advice Trust [...]
Homeserve faces mis-selling investigation
HomeServe, which provides emergency insurance cover and domestic repairs to households in the UK, is to be investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Issues over the possible mis-selling of household emergency policies were uncovered last October during an internal review at the Walsall-based company. Homeserve’s call centre staff were found to be selling ‘Complete [...]
OFT warns Wonga over debt collection methods
Payday loan company Wonga used aggressive and misleading methods to collect debts from customers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has found. Wonga sent letter and emails to certain customers suggesting they had committed fraud and threatening to report them to the police if they did not act in the way Wonga suggested. The company [...]
NS&I re-launches investment account
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has re-launched its Investment Account at a higher interest rate than it previously offered. The account now offers 0.75 per cent before tax, compared with between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent previously, depending on the account balance. Deposits and withdrawals on the account can no longer be made at Post [...]
Rightmove reports property downsizing trend
Two in five property owners planning to sell in the next year are planning to ‘trade down’, compared with one in four who plan to ‘trade up’. A survey by property website Rightmove found that moving to a smaller home is the main reason for moving in nine out of the ten regions in the [...]
More people failing to save for retirement
The proportion of people with no pension savings has grown from 20 per cent to 22 per cent over the past year, according to Scottish Widows’ latest survey. The pension provider surveyed 5,200 adults in the UK, aged 30 or over, and earning at least £10,000 a year, for its annual review of pensions. Ian [...]
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