The Treasury has announced plans to change ISA top-up rules to help strengthen consumer confidence in the security of the product. Currently, ISA investors who lose their savings due to the collapse of a financial firm are unable to refill their annual allowance. Any savings lost as a result of a firm failing are still [...]
HSBC subsidiary NHFA, which offered advice on financial provision for people in long-term care, has been fined £10.5m by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). NHFA was found to have mis-sold asset-backed investment products to 87 per cent of 2,485 elderly people or their representatives, who bought the products to fund care costs. The products were [...]
BBC Radio 4′s Money Box reported on its Saturday programme that banks are charging excessively high rates for overdrafts. The programme, which offers advice on how to make the most of your money, suggested that UK banks are charging the equivalent of thousands of per cent APR for going overdrawn by small amounts. Santander’s customers, [...]
Following pressure from the Treasury Select Committee, people who hold basic bank accounts at Lloyds TSB will have access to thousands more cash machines from next year. Basic bank account holders are people who are not eligible to open a standard bank account because they have a poor credit score. In 2006 Lloyds TSB decided [...]
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) will write to holders of its Investment Account this month, warning them about major changes. From 21 May 2012 savers will no long be able to deposit or withdraw money from Investment Accounts at post offices with a passbook. The account is becoming postal-only and savers will receive postal statements, [...]
A leading financial regulator has blamed the ‘illusion’ of free banking for leading to some products being mis-sold. Andrew Bailey, director of banking services at the Financial Services Authority, said that “free-if-in-credit” current accounts have distorted the market. He said that ‘free banking’ means that “charges are levied inconsistently across products supplied by banks, with [...]
Santander has launched an innovative new product which allows customers to receive £1,000 interest almost immediately, on an investment of £12,000. The Upfront Interest Bond has a minimum three-year term and a minimum initial deposit of £10,000 is required. It is only available to Santander current account customers and interest on the bond will be [...]
Major UK banks including Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland and Santander have signed up to a scheme designed to help customers avoid going into the red. A text alert system, already used by some banks, which warns customers when they are nearing their overdraft limit, will be extended to all High Street banks [...]
Savers with money in both Northern Rock and Virgin Money will not be disadvantaged by Virgin’s takeover of the Newcastle-based bank if either of the banks collapses. Both Virgin Money and Northern Rock will keep separate banking licences following the £747 million deal, which is expected to be rubber-stamped in January. This means that the [...]
The government has announced the sale of Northern Rock to Virgin Money for £747m, representing a loss of £650m on the £1.4bn of public money it injected into the Newcastle-based bank. The chancellor, George Osborne said that the deal was “an important first step in getting the taxpayer out of the business of owning banks”. [...]
The Treasury Committee, which includes MPs from all political parties, has called for the cheque guarantee scheme to be re-instated and government departments have been ordered to accept cheque payments from customers. The Payments Council, the body which sets the strategy for payments in the UK, ended the cheque guarantee card in June. However it [...]
HSBC has re-iterated its threat to leave Britain if the government’s proposed banking reforms are introduced. The new capital rules, recommended by the Independent Commission on Banking, could cost HSBC $2.5 billion a year, a price which it may be unwilling to pay. HSBS has had its headquarters in the UK for the last 20 [...]
Lloyds Banking Group announced a loss of £3.8bn for the first nine months of the year, including a £3.2bn provision for payment protection insurance, compared with a £1.9bn profit in the previous year. The group’s shares, which fell by 25 per cent following news earlier this month that chief executive António Horta-Osório was on sick [...]
In an interim management statement today, banking giant Barclays said profits climbed 5% in the third quarter – boosted by cost-cutting measures. For the three months to the end of September, the bank said pre-tax profits were £1.34 billion, versus £1.27 billion for the same period a year earlier. However, revenues for the three month [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed UK public sector net borrowing fell last month. According to the ONS, public sector net borrowing came in at a lower than expected £14.1 billion in September, boosted by tax receipts. Analysts had expected borrowing to total £14.5 billion. Furthermore, the ONS revised down the borrowing [...]
US banking giant Citigroup has today reported a rise in its third quarter profit. Citigroup, which is the third largest bank in the US by assets, said third quarter profit came in at $3.77 billion, or $1.23 a share, compared with $2.17 billion, or 72 cents a share, in the same quarter a year earlier. [...]
Credit ratings agency Fitch has today downgraded two UK banks and placed one on a negative watch. Fitch downgraded Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) long-term credit rating to an A rating from AA-. It also placed Barclays on a negative watch, meaning a downgrade is possible in the future. In a statement, Fitch [...]
Credit ratings agency Moody’s has today downgraded 12 UK financial institutions. The news sent banking shares down in morning trading today with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds down by around 3.5%. Moody’s cut its rating on state-owned banks RBS by two notches from Aa3 to A2 and Lloyds TSB by one notch from [...]
Figures from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) have revealed that the three most complained about British banks are Barclays, Lloyds and Santander. According to the FSA, Barclays received more than a quarter of a million complaints in the first half of 2011. Lloyds received 181,907 complaints in the six month period, while Santander had 168,888 [...]
According to the BBC, financial institution NBNK is to submit a second bid for the 600+ branches which Lloyds Banking Group is putting up for sale. It is understood the branches could fetch around £1.5 billion, according to sources close to the matter. Lloyds is selling the branches under the orders of the European Commission [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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