Savers looking to open a new account this month can secure a 2.6% interest rate with the Sainsbury’s Finance Internet Saver account. For Internet Saver accounts opened between 9th and 30th June, the supermarket financial provider will pay 1.85% above the account’s standard interest rate for 12 months, provided the account holder does not make [...]
Millions of current account holders have been stung by a hike to overdraft rates this week, with both Nationwide and Barclays increasing overdraft charges. Nationwide, Britain’s biggest building society, has increased interest charged on overdrafts for the third time in a year, with overdrawn customers paying nearly double compared to 12 months ago. Barclays, meanwhile, [...]
Fixed-rate mortgages are set to grow in popularity because the base rate was held rather than cut last month, Abbey claimed this week. Research by the mortgage lender found that the number of people who believe the base rate has fallen as low as it will go has doubled in the past month. Meanwhile, the [...]
Leeds Building Society has announced that its fixed-rate ISAs pay interest at up to seven times the Bank of England’s base rate. Kim Rebecchi, Leeds’s director of sales and marketing, said the building society’s five year fixed-rate ISA, which pays interest at 3.5%, is a ‘market leading offer’. “With many ISAs in the market paying [...]
Nationwide has announced that customers taking out fixed-rate mortgages will no longer revert to its base mortgage rate (BMR), when the fix comes to an end. The building society’s BMR, which is the equivalent to a standard variable rate (SVR), has been falling in line with reductions in the base rate and currently stands at [...]
Leeds Building Society announced this week that its Regular Saver account offers an interest rate of more than six times the Bank of England’s base rate. The account pays 3.05% gross p.a. APR, with a minimum monthly investment of £20. Maximum investment allowed is £500 per month. Savers can make one penalty free withdrawal every [...]
Pensioners have seen their monthly income slashed by almost a quarter in the last year, research by SHIP has discovered. SHIP (Safe Home Income Plans) revealed that the 8 million British pensioners are suffering from the drop in income, caused by the collapse in the Bank of England’s base rate. Income from savings has plummeted [...]
Moneysupermarket.com has revealed that the average interest rate of loans dropped last week for the first time since August 2008. The average annual percentage rate (APR) of leading loan providers hit a high of 8.88% in March, compared to 7.34% in March 2008. The peak came despite repeated cuts to the Bank of England’s base [...]
Over half of UK savers have no idea what interest rate their savings account is paying, according to new research by uSwitch.com. The price comparison site found that 22 million savers are clueless as to how much their interest has been reduced since the Bank of England’s base rate started falling six months ago. Meanwhile, [...]
Lord Turner, the Financial Service Authority’s chairman, has said that as a result of increased regulatory control consumers are likely to face higher mortgage rates as costs are passed on. The FSA is now considering a number of new measures in order to avert any future banking crisis. The primary consideration is looking to increase [...]
The interest paid on fixed-rate bonds is improving, according to new research by Moneysupermarket.com. The price comparison site found that the top five fixed-rate bond products pay an average interest rate of 3.89%, despite the Bank of England’s 0.5% base rate. In the past 12 months, the margin between the base rate and the best [...]
Fewer than 4% of instant access savings accounts pay AER at 3% or above, according to new research from Sainsbury’s Finance. A survey of accounts by the supermarket bank found that just 14 of the 367 instant access accounts currently available in the UK pay interest of 3% or more on balances of £5,000. The [...]
Nearly a quarter of Brits have no money set aside in a savings account, according to research by Nationwide building society. The study in savings trends found that 23% of respondents had nothing in a savings account, whilst the number of people who consider saving important has dropped 25% compared to a year ago. Repeated [...]
Lenders have pledged to reduce standard variable mortgage rates (SVRs) in line with the Bank of England’s 0.5% base rate cut. Lloyds TSB, Abbey, Halifax, Barclays, Skipton, Cheltenham & Gloucester, and Nationwide have all promised to pass on the majority of the reduction. The Bank of England last week cut the base rate in half [...]
Last week’s base rate cut to 0.5% was a ‘kick in the teeth’ to savers, the Building Societies Association (BSA) said. Savers “will see their already diminished interest payments fall even further,” said Adrian Coles, BSA director-general. The Bank of England cut rates to a new record low of 0.5% on Thursday in an effort [...]
RBS and its subsidiary NatWest will only be passing on half of yesterday’s base rate cut to mortgage customers on their standard variable rates (SVRs). The lenders are reducing SVRs by 0.25%, although they claim most customers will not be missing out because the majority are either on tracker or fixed-rate deals. In the case [...]
The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee (MPC) will cut interest rates tomorrow, according to a poll of industry economists. Of the 11 experts polled, nine predicted a rate cut, whilst two said current economic conditions make it too close to call. Economists polled included representatives from HSBC, Barclays, the Centre for Economics and Business [...]
Abbey has launched a new range of ISAs paying interest at up to 5.5%. The Santander-owned bank has unveiled three new individual savings accounts (ISAs) – the Reward ISA, the Direct ISA, and the Super Direct ISA. New savers can place up to £3,600 in the Reward ISA, which pays interest at 1.5% plus a [...]
The Bank of England suggested this week that it is unlikely to cut base rates to 0%, but instead will seek to stimulate the UK economy by increasing money supply. Base rates were cut by 0.5% this month to a new record low of 1%, but the Bank of England has now said that further [...]
The resistance of mortgage lenders to pass on cuts in the base rate is illustrated by new research from Moneyfacts.co.uk. The financial website found that Standard Variable Rates (SVRs) are down by an average one-third of the total amount shaved off the base rate in recent months. The firm’s analyst, Michelle Slade, points out that [...]
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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