Interest rates on personal loans are finally starting to fall. The average interest rate on the top ten loan deals has fallen to 8.35%, the lowest level since the Bank of England reduced the base rate to 0.5% last March. When the Bank of England first lowered the base rate, mortgage and current account providers [...]
A new microfinance bank in Bahrain is set to help thousands of needy families. The Family Bank, a joint initiative between Bahrain’s Social Development Ministry and the Grameen Bank, will offer loans of between 150 and 7,000 Bahrain Dinars (between £250 and £11,500). “The idea is to make needy and creative Bahraini families self dependent [...]
Those wishing to consolidate their dates after the expensive Christmas period may be interested to learn about the Nationwide’s new loan deals, which were launched earlier this week. Nationwide has introduced a new personal loan rate of 7.6% APR typical for loans of between £7,500 and £14,999 for up to five years for its main [...]
Figures from the Building Societies Association (BSA) have revealed that consumers are opting to repay debt rather than save amid the historically low interest rate environment. According to the BSA, savings balances held by building societies fell by £-929 million in October compared to an increase of £545 million a year ago, when interest rates [...]
Research from Sainsbury’s Finance has found that since the launch of the Government’s scrappage scheme in May, an estimated £61.2 million of personal loans per month have been taken out to purchase cars, compared with a monthly average of £44.7 million in 2009, prior to the scheme. The scheme, which pays consumers £2,000 to get [...]
Ethical bank Triodos increased its lending in the UK by nearly one third in the first half of this year. Current lending by the bank rose to £223 million, with a further £82 million in loan commitments that have yet to be drawn down. This £305 million total represents an overall lending increase of 29% [...]
Triodos Bank has announced plans to issue €90 million of new shares. Money raised from the shares will be used to provide loans to sustainable projects. Set up in 1980, Netherlands-based Triodos provides loans to environmentally-friendly projects such as wind farms and organic agriculture. Since the credit crunch, the company has seen an upsurge in [...]
Consumers have seen very little benefit from the Bank of England holding its base rate at a record low of 0.5% for six months, a consumer advice site pointed out this week. Interest rates on savings accounts have dropped, while rates on mortgages, credit cards, and personal loans have continued to rise, said Moneyfacts.co.uk. Research [...]
For the first time ever, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has published figures showing the number of complaints made to firms in the financial services industry in the 2006-2008 period. The data has revealed an enormous increase in complaints about banking and loan products, revealing a 122% increase – from 608,620 at the beginning of [...]
Consumers taking out a personal loan are “paying through the nose” due to soaring interest rates. Banks are now charging an average APR of 10.32% on personal loans even though the Bank of England’s base rate has been held at a record low of 0.5%. This compares to an average personal loan APR of 8.71% [...]
Half the university students who graduated since tuition fees were introduced are too poor to pay back their student loans. Of the 1.4 million graduates who started university after 1998, 702,000 are earning too little to pay back debt accrued whilst studying. Repayments are triggered when graduates start earning at least £15,000 per year; over [...]
In its latest “Trends in Lending” report, the Bank of England said the flow of credit to British businesses fell to £3.4 billion in May and followed a drop of £6 billion the previous month. During 2007, the normal levels of lending were £7 billion per month and £4 billion in 2008 – when the [...]
M&S Money is offering 10% cashback to new customers taking out a personal loan. Borrowers will be given a 10% refund on the interest they’ve paid once their final repayment has been made. The offer is available until 11 August, and applies to loans paid back over a period of at least 36 months. Customers [...]
A ruthless loan shark who charged his victims interest at up to eight million percent has been jailed for eight months. Ian Jenkins, 43, targeted homeless people in Gloucester with illegal loans to fund their drug and alcohol habits. Taking personal documents and pin numbers as security, he charged 30% interest per day on the [...]
HSBC this week secured the title of Responsible Lender of the Year at the Credit Today awards 2009. The commercial and consumer lending magazine applauded HSBC for its conscientious attitude towards lending. Joe Garner of HSBC UK said the bank is “proud” to be recognised for its “approach to responsible lending”. “To us, responsible lending [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has banned lenders from selling payment protection insurance (PPI) alongside unsecured personal loans. Starting today, banks and other loan providers are no longer allowed to sell PPI, the FSA has ruled. “No firms will be selling single premium PPI on unsecured personal loans from today following FSA intervention and action [...]
Financial difficulties caused by the recession will drive up the number of consumers borrowing money from illegal lenders and loan sharks, the Money Advice Trust (MAT) warned this week. Brits seeking a quick cash injection will be tempted by the lure of easy money that loan sharks appear to offer. “It could be that someone [...]
The Government has announced this week that 2.5 million students will pay 0 percent interest on student loans from September. However, this slashes the hope that student loans, which are linked to the Retail Prices Index which has fallen to -0.4 percent, would mean that loans would be reduced accordingly. The Student Loans Company has [...]
Nationwide Building Society has cut the interest rate it charges on personal loans between £7,500 and £14,999. Typical annual percentage rate (APR) for newly taken out loans has been reduced from 8.2% to 7.9%. By comparison, RBS offers a typical APR of 8.9% for loans of this amount, whilst HSBC’s typical APR is 9.9%. “With [...]
Loan interest rates have seen a ‘staggering jump’ over the past 24 months, according to Moneyfacts.co.uk. The average interest rate charged on unsecured personal loans has increased by up to 44% in two years, Moneyfacts said. According to the price comparison site, the average APR on a £5,000 has jumped from 8.6% in May 2007 [...]
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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