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 [...]
Leeds Building Society has announced new guaranteed returns on its fixed-rate bonds, making them even more attractive for savers. The building society is offering returns of up to 3.5% gross p.a./AER on its one, two and three year fixed-rate bonds. In addition, the bonds allow ‘no penalty’ instant access to 25% of the balance at [...]
Over one third of ISA holders are planning to ditch the account because of low interest rates and the need to use their savings to see them through the recession. A uSwitch.com poll found that 38% of the UK’s 11.5 million ISA holders are planning to withdraw from their ISA. With the average ISA account [...]
HSBC will pass on last week’s base rate cut to the ‘vast majority’ of its mortgage customers, the bank has revealed. Ninety five percent of mortgage customers on variable packages will benefit from the full 0.5% rate cut, HSBC said. In addition, the bank’s small and medium sized business customers will benefit from the cut [...]
Base rate cuts alone may not be enough to revive the UK economy, Lloyds TSB has warned. Trevor Williams, an analyst at Lloyds TSB, said the Bank of England must start thinking about alternative stimuli. The ‘economic woes’ that led to last week’s base rate cut ‘will not disappear overnight’, said Williams. With the base [...]
Savings account interest rates continue to plummet following the Bank of England’s base rate cut to a new record low of 1%. In the 48 hours before the Bank of England announced its decision, 34 providers had already cut interest on their savings accounts, according to price comparison site uSwitch.com. Fixed rate accounts were the [...]
Eight major lenders yesterday confirmed plans to pass on the full 0.5% base rate cut to mortgage holders. Abbey, Barclays, Cheltenham & Gloucester, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Nationwide Building Society and Skipton Building Society have all announced interest rate cuts. Abbey said the full rate cut will be passed on to tracker mortgage holders, whilst [...]
Leeds Building Society has launched a new one year tracker ISA with a guaranteed interest rate 0.75% above the Bank of England’s base rate. Savers can withdraw up to 25% of the initial amount invested in the Tracker ISA Plus at any time, without incurring a penalty. The interest rate is guaranteed until at least [...]
Nationwide Building Society has launched a new savings account in which the interest rate paid varies according to the Bank of England’s base rate. Interest paid in the new tracker bond will also differ depending on the amount of money held in the account. Interest rates on the one year bond will be between 2.05% [...]
The Bank of England has been cutting the base rate aggressively since the autumn of last year and homeowners on tracker rates are becoming used to an almost monthly drop in the cost of their mortgage repayments. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee meets again this week amid speculation that the base rate could fall to [...]
The Bank of England’s 0.5% base rate cut has proved unpopular with Brits, according to the results of a new survey. An online poll by moneysupermarket.com found that over two thirds of 16,000 respondents were angry with the Bank of England’s decision, which lowered the base rate to 1.5%, its lowest in over 300 years. [...]
M&S Money has reduced the interest rate on its variable Cash ISA following the Bank of England’s 0.5% base rate cut. Cash ISA account holders will now be paid 2% interest, down from 2.5%. In December, M&S Money reduced the variable cash ISA rate by only 0.5% rather than matching the Bank of England’s 1.0% [...]
The director general of the Council of Mortgage Lenders has described today’s cut in the Bank of England’s base rate to 1.5% as a double-edged sword for lenders who rely on savings deposits to fund their mortgage businesses. Michael Coogan comments that while lower mortgage rates can provide borrowers with the opportunity to repay their [...]
Ahead of today’s expected cut in the Bank of England’s base rate, the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) has warned that any reduction in interest rates will not address the real issues in the UK economy. While mortgage borrowers on base rate trackers and some on lenders’ standard variable rates will benefit from a further [...]
Tracker mortgages are becoming increasingly hard to find following the Bank of England’s aggressive attack on the base rate of interest. Market statistics show that in the last year, the number of tracker mortgage products available has dropped by over 700, from 763 to 45. This is expected to decline further next year with additional [...]
Northern Rock mortgage borrowers will not all receive the full benefit of last week’s cut in the base rate. The nationalised lender’s tracker rate customers will see the full 1% reduction but for those on its standard variable rate (SVR) the reduction will be 0.5% taking the rate down to 5.34%, from 1st January. Mortgage [...]
Yesterday’s 1% cut in the Bank of England’s base rate, to 2%, has met with a mixed response from mortgage lenders. Despite pressure from Government Ministers, Halifax and Nationwide are opting not to pass on the full reduction to customers with standard variable rate (SVR) loans. So far, HSBC, Bristol & West, Lloyds TSB and [...]
Mortgage lenders have been ordered to pass on to customers yesterday’s 1.5% cut in the Bank of England’s base rate, to 3%. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, called leading lenders to a meeting early today and Prime Minister Gordon Brown is backing up the Treasury’s actions by stating that the Government is determined to [...]
Lloyds TSB has confirmed that it will pass on today’s 1.5% cut in the base rate in full, to mortgage borrowers on its standard variable rate (SVR). The bank had previously pledged that its SVR will never be pitched more than 2% above the Bank of England’s base rate. Today’s reduction takes Lloyds TSB’s SVR [...]
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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