Lloyds Banking Group has set aside a further £1 billion to cover compensation costs for customers who were mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). Yesterday, Barclays revealed £700m of PPI costs in the 2012 third quarter increasing its total provision to £2bn. Lloyds Banking Group, which has made the largest PPI provision out of all the […]
The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards has appointed counsel to cross-examine witnesses during its inquiry into the collapse of Halifax Bank of Scotland. Barrister David Quest has been appointed to question witnesses in a public evidence session, as part of a sub-committee panel inquiry into the bank. Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Commission said: “This […]
Elderly and disabled people are at risk of fraud because of the difficulties they face in accessing their cash. Research commissioned by The Payments Council found that many have to give financial information such as card details, Pin numbers and passwords to friends and family as they find technology too difficult to use. The decreasing […]
There is growing speculation that Nationwide building society may be considering a bid for the 316 branches being sold by RBS group under EU rules. RBS was ordered to sell the branches under the terms of the £45 billion bailout it received from the UK government during the financial crisis. It had planned to sell […]
The Bank of Scotland has received a £2.4 million fine from the Financial Services Authority (FSA), for failing to keep accurate records on the mortgage payments of 250,000 customers of the Halifax between 2004 and 2011. An investigation by the FSA, following a spate of customer complaints, discovered that 160,000 homeowners were incorrectly excluded from […]
Barclays has set aside another £700 million to cover claims for mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI) after claims reached unexpectedly high levels. This is on top of the £1 billion set aside in 2011 and the £300 million provision made in the first three months of 2012. By the end of September, the bank had […]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is seeking a new buyer for 316 branches after a deal with Santander fell through, and is believed to have approached Virgin Money. RBS is required the sell the branches under the EU conditions attached to the £45 billion bailout it received from the government when it came to the […]
An IT failure at parent company RBS was a “major disaster” for Ulster Bank, its chief executive Jim Brown told a committee at the Northern Ireland parliament. Following a routine software upgrade on 19 June which went wrong, thousands of Ulster Bank customers were unable to access their accounts. Ulster Bank has paid out £18m […]
Barclays is changing its bonus system for 18,000 branch and call centre staff, following a similar move by the Co-operative bank. Barclays is ending the practice of awarding staff commission for selling financial policies. Like the Co-op, Barclays will now provide bonuses for good customer service rather than for meeting sales targets. Antony Jenkins, who […]
The Co-operative Bank has banned sales incentives for its branch staff and replaced them with an incentive system which rewards good customer service with bonuses of up to £400 per quarter. Around 3 per cent of branch staff were offered incentives to sell products. The Co-op plans to introduce the new customer service incentive scheme […]
Barclays is acquiring the UK operations of Dutch banking and insurance group ING Direct. Barclays will take on ING UK’s £10.9bn of deposits and its £5.6bn mortgage book, as well as 750 employees and 1.5 million customers. ING, which has its UK headquarters in Reading, is divesting its UK assets to help raise funds to […]
Frodo Financial, a new financial technology company, has launched an online overdraft system which provides an alternative to a bank overdraft. The new Frodo Flexi account provides a rolling cash-credit facility of between £1,000 and £10,000 that runs alongside a customer’s current account with their existing bank. It offers a 16.9% APR variable interest rate […]
NatWest bank has suspended its Get Cash app which allows customers to withdraw money from a cash machine without a debit card, according to a report by the BBC. Customers request the cash on their mobile and a 6 digit pin is generated which they then enter at the cash money to withdraw funds. However, […]
HSBC Holdings is planning to stop offering Islamic financial services in the UK as part of a global restructuring strategy which will see non-core businesses shut down. Along with the UK, it is closing its Islamic banking operations in United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Singapore and Mauritius. HSBC will offer Islamic banking only in Malaysia, […]
PayPal, the internet-based money transfer service, has resolved the technical issues that delayed transactions for UK customers. The problem started on 29 September when a new system was introduced to speed up transactions. Unfortunately it had the opposite effect, with large numbers of transactions being sent for security checks, causing substantial delays in funds being […]
PayPal, the payments business which allows payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet, has been experiencing technical difficulties for the past week. The glitch, which is affecting UK customers, has led to large numbers of transactions being sent for security checks, causing payments to be delayed. The problem is believed to have […]
The Financial Services Authority has revealed the results of its six-monthly review of complaints, showing that LLoyds and Barclays are the two most complained-about banks. Complaint numbers have rocketed as a result of the Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) mis-selling scandal and have now reached the rate of one PPI complaint every 7 seconds. Between January […]
M&S Bank which opened its first branch in July, launched its first current accounts today. The accounts are available from the bank’s 13 in-store branches. The retailer hopes to attract customers by capitalising on its reputation as a trusted brand. A marketing campaign, launched to promote the new accounts, uses the strapline ‘new fashioned banking’ […]
A new report from analytics firm Data Genetics suggests that criminals can guess PIN numbers 10 per cent of the time purely because people are choosing PIN numbers that are easy to remember. Data Genetics found that one in nine people use “1234” as their PIN number when withdrawing cash at ATMs or making payments […]
Consumer watchdog Which? has launched a new campaign calling for banks to put customers first. The ‘Big Change’ campaign will put pressure on the banking sector to focus less on profits and more on the services they offer. Its launch precedes a meeting of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards in December, which will consider […]
Gender directive could slash men’s annuity payouts
The EU Gender Directive, which came into force today, could see men losing up to £10,000 from their annuity payouts, according to research by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Under the new rules insurers are no longer allowed to take gender into account when setting annuity rates and premiums on insurance products. Men previously enjoyed higher annuity rates than […]
Home rental costs down in November
The cost of renting a house in England and Wales fell by 0.4 per cent in November, its first dip since March, according to a survey by LSL Property Services. Average rent was £741m during the month, returning to the level seen in September. However, it was 3.4 per higher than in November last year. […]
Lloyds TSB halts sale of packaged accounts in branches
Lloyds TSB will stop selling packaged account in its branches from 1 January 2013, until its sales procedures are brought into line with those operated by sister bank The Halifax. Lloyds TSB is one of the main providers of packaged accounts in Britain, with around one in three of its customers choosing to pay fees […]
Housing market recovery to continue next year
Recent improvements in the housing market should continue into next year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) Gross lending is estimated to have increased to £12.9 billion in November, helped by the Funding for Lending scheme which provides banks and building societies with lower-cost funding, which they are then supposed to pass on […]
Newcastle Building Society exits interest-only mortgages
Newcastle Building Society has stopped offering interest-only mortgages to new borrowers, following the lead of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Nationwide, Co-operative bank and Coventry Building Society. The decision will not affect existing Newcastle customers and applications for interest-only mortgages received before 14 December will still be processed. Prior to the credit crunch, interest-only mortgages […]
Less than half of Brits considered creditworthy
Fifty-seven per cent of UK adults are at risk of having an application for credit turned down by a mainstream lender according to a new report. The ‘Mind the Credit Gap‘ report commissioned by aqua credit cards suggests that even people with a good credit rating and earning more than £50,000 could have a credit […]
Monthly incomes £22 lower in 2012
The average monthly income of UK households fell by £22 in real terms compared with last year, according to a survey carried out for the Bank of England (BoE) by NMG Consulting. People on lower incomes have seen their income eroded more than higher earners and households still have high levels of debt the BoE […]
Savers dig deep to fund Christmas
New research from the Halifax suggests that savers are funding their Christmas spending with money set aside for other purposes. Thirty-seven per cent of 2,138 savers surveyed by the bank at the end of November had withdrawn savings in the last three months. The average amount withdrawn was £1,186, more than double the average savings […]
Financial data at risk from unsafe passwords
According to a survey by the Payments Council the problem of having to remember a different password for several accounts means that many internet users are compromising the security of their financial data. Internet users have 22 password-protected accounts on average and many use the same log-in details for more than one account, even though […]
Wonga launches Paylater loans on retailer website
Payday loan company Wonga has launched a new Paylater service on furniture firm Cotswold Company’s website. The service, which allows customers to “buy now, pay later” will be introduced on other retailers’ sites in the near future. Although the Paylater branding is similar to Wonga’s, the Wonga name only appears in the small print. A […]
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