There has been a substantial increase in the number of people worried about their finances over the past six months and savings are the main area of concern. A survey by financial advice site unbiased.co.uk discovered that 47 per cent of British people are more concerned about their savings than they were six months ago. [...]
Santander UK has announced a new savings bond designed for people who want to inflation-proof their savings. The six-year Inflation Linked Savings Bond will pay the percentage rise in the Retail Price Index (RPI) when it matures, on top of the saver’s initial deposit. Savers can invest between £500 to £2 million in the bond [...]
Campaign group Save our Savers today revealed the cost to savers of the Bank of England’s decision to hold the base rate at 0.5% for the 33rd successive month. The group estimates that the low interest rate combined with a retail price index at 5.6 per cent, its highest level for 20 years, and a [...]
Halifax has improved its ISA offering with a better return on its five year fixed rate product. The ISA now pays 4.4 per cent, strengthening its position as the market leading long term fixed rate ISA. The product is an excellent option for savers who do not mind their savings being tied up for the [...]
From November 28, National Savings and Investments (NS&I) will cease selling its accounts via the Post Office. It has been announced that the Government-backed NS&I will no longer sell investment or easy access savings accounts over the counter at the Post Office. NS&I runs Premium Bonds and a variety of savings products. However, from the [...]
Disability charity Scope is to launch a £20 million bond programme to produce a new source of funds for its charitable activities. The move will see the charity become one of the first in the UK to enter the capital markets. The charity will team up with Investing for Good, a specialist social finance intermediary, [...]
US banking giant Goldman Sachs has today reported a fall in third quarter profits. Goldman Sachs, which is the US’ largest investment bank, made a net loss of $393 million (£250 million) for the third quarter compared with profits of $1.9 billion a year earlier. The bank said trading was “significantly impacted” by the euro [...]
European equities markets were lower Monday after a spokesman for the German government said a quick solution to the Eurozone debt crisis will not emerge from a meeting of European leaders scheduled for 23 October, after a plan for a solution was discussed over the weekend by G20 finance ministers and central bank leaders. No [...]
European equities markets were higher Friday, with gains coming on hopes for a solution to the region’s debt crisis as the G20 finance ministers meet in Paris to discuss the crisis and a rescue plan that could cause holders of Greek bonds to take bigger losses. The gains came despite the third credit rating cut [...]
European equities markets were lower Thursday after a warning from the European Central Bank, which said that making financial institutions that hold Greek bonds absorb more losses could imperil financial stability in the Eurozone, while markets were also hurt by data that exports from China were up 17.1 percent in September from last year, less [...]
European equities markets were higher Wednesday after both the European Commission President and the European Union’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner said that banks need to be shored up as part of the answer to solving the Eurozone’s debt crisis, but gains came only after earlier declines on a delay in Slovakia’s approval of a [...]
Most equities markets in Europe were lower Tuesday as questions remained about whether Slovakia will ratify the newly revised Eurozone bailout fund in a vote scheduled for later in the day. Slovakia is the only Eurozone nation that has not approved the new plan. The FTSE 100 was down 0.06 percent to 5,395.7 in London, [...]
Equities markets in Europe were higher Monday, with gains coming on a promise by Germany’s chancellor and France’s president that they will create a plan to recapitalize banks and find solutions to the region’s debt crisis as they said they will have the plan worked out by a G20 summit scheduled for 3 November. The [...]
European equities markets were higher in mid-afternoon trade Friday, helped by data from the US Labor Department that showed 103,000 jobs added to the US economy, more than expected, while the unemployment rate in the United States held steady at 9.1 percent. The FTSE 100 was up 0.16 percent to 5,299.77 in London at mid-afternoon, [...]
European equities markets were higher Thursday after the European Central Bank and Bank of England both held interest rates steady, at 1.5 percent and at 0.5 percent respectively, while the ECB said it will restart covered-bond purchases and again offer year-long loans to banks, while the Bank of England will expand its program of bond [...]
Equities markets in Europe were higher Wednesday on the possibility that Eurozone finance ministers will put in place ways to protect banks from the region’s debt crisis. The FTSE 100 was up 3.19 percent to 5,102.17 in London, while the FTSE 250 added 1.51 percent to 9,567.84. Miners led gains on both the 100 and [...]
European equities markets were lower Tuesday on the possibility that the Greek bailout deal reached in July could be renegotiated, although the contemplated revisions are said to be of a technical nature. The FTSE 100 was down 2.58 percent to 4,944.44 in London, while the FTSE 250 dropped 3.33 percent to 9.425.93. Most retailers were [...]
European equities markets were lower Monday on continuing concerns that the region’s debt crisis will get worse and spread, with some analysts saying that another recession is on the way. The FTSE 100 was down 1.03 percent to 912.34 in London, while the FTSE 250 dropped 0.7 percent to 9,750.56, with declines coming even though [...]
European equities markets were lower Friday on further indications that the global economy is slowing as Chinese manufacturing activity remained in contraction, Eurozone inflation was up to 3 percent in August and German retail sales dropped 2.9 percent in August from the previous month in a much larger decline than expected. The FTSE 100 was [...]
European equities markets were mostly higher Thursday on positive date from the United States, including a 1.3 percent gain in the US gross domestic product and a decline in first-time jobless claims last week, while gains were also helped after German lawmakers approved an increased contribution to a European fund to help Eurozone nations caught [...]
Bank of Ireland raises cost of mortgages
The Bank of Ireland has become the latest lender to increase the standard variable rate (SVR) on its mortgages. Around 100,000 UK customers will be affected when the bank increases the SVR from 2.99 per cent, to 3.99 per cent in June There will be a further increase in September, when the SVR will rise [...]
House prices down 1.1% in February
House prices fell 1.1 per cent in February according to The Halifax, contradicting earlier figures from Nationwide suggesting that property prices have increased. According to the Halifax’s three monthly index, house prices were 1.1 per cent lower in February than in the previous three months. The mortgage lender’s annual index showed that property prices fell [...]
Debit card transactions declined by Yorkshire and Clydesdale
Customers of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank have been experiencing problems with debit cards being declined due to computer changes. The problem initially occurred while the banks, which are both part of the National Australia Bank (NAB), were transferring their systems operations to an external contractor on Sunday morning. Problems with some Mastercard debit transactions persisted [...]
Banks write to customers over PPI mis-selling
Banks are writing to millions of customers advising them that they may have been mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI), following the release of new guidelines by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The FSA estimates that between four million and 12 million letters will be sent out, but not everyone who has been mis-sold PPI will [...]
Confidence in pensions plummets ahead of auto-enrolement
Public confidence in pensions has fallen to an all-time low just months before the Government starts automatically putting every worker into one, new research showed today (Weds). A survey for the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) found 54% of all employees are not confident in pensions compared to other ways of saving. 37% said [...]
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) expects the UK economy to grow more slowly than previously forecast and says it faces “serious challenges”. In its quarterly economic forecast the BCC forecast growth of 0.6 per cent in 2012, a slight decrease from its previous forecast of 0.8 per cent. It expects the government’s efforts to [...]
Pension annuities should be clearer under new code
A new code of conduct is being launched by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) which should ensure that the sale of annuities is fairer and more transparent. The new code is designed to make it easier for people to make decisions about their retirement income, including being more confident in using the so-called ‘open [...]
Saga sees financial green shoots for over-50s
Saga’s latest quarterly report is slightly more optimistic about the financial health of the over 50s than its report for the final quarter of 2011, but the organisation warns that the “green shoots” of recovery are very tentative at the moment. Compared with a year ago, the report suggests that the quality of life for [...]
Drivers switch to autopilot after 11 minutes
A study by car insurance provider, Esure, has found that drivers suffer from a lapse in concentration just 11 minutes into a long journey. Esure questioned more than 1,000 motorists in the UK about their driving habits and attention span. 22 per cent of those surveyed said they fell into ‘autopilot’ easily, while 34% said [...]
Metro Bank launches online ISA service
London-based Metro Bank is partnering with Australian online banking solutions provider Sandstone to create an online application platform for Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs). CallCredit will provide verification and credit checking data for the new service, which will be available in time for consumers to take advantage of the new Isa allowance, starting in April. This [...]
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