It has been announced today that cheques will not be phased out after the Payments Council announced it would abolish them in 2018. The Council has now decided to keep them after criticism from MPs and charities and was forced to make the u-turn after pressure from the public. Richard North, the chairman of the [...]
Euro zone finance ministers have failed to reach an agreement on Greece’s next loan instalment of €12 billion, which has sent European stocks down – with banking shares hit hardest. Ministers met in Luxembourg yesterday but delayed their decision on the fifth instalment of Greece’s €110 billion loan until the country introduces further austerity measures. [...]
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is tomorrow expected to keep UK interest rates on hold at the historically low level of 0.5%, where they have been since March 2009. Furthermore, it is expected to hold off, for the short-term at least, with its quantitative easing (QE) programme. Recent strong data from the [...]
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is tomorrow expected to keep UK interest rates on hold at the historically low level of 0.5% for the 19th consecutive month. Many economists expect no movement on interest rates until early 2011. Meanwhile, all nine members of the MPC are expected to keep the quantitative easing [...]
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is tomorrow expected to keep UK interest rates on hold at the historically low level of 0.5% for the 16th consecutive month. Furthermore, all nine members of the MPC are expected to keep the quantitative easing programme (QE) on hold. QE, also known as printing money, is [...]
On Monday night, it was announced that British Airways (BA) was successful in preventing the latest series of strikes by its cabin crew staff. Mr Justice McCombe of the High Court ruled in favour of the airline and said the decision was based on a technicality. However, the Unite union described the decision “an absolute [...]
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has published the minutes of its April rate-setting meeting which reveal that the decision to keep the base rate at its historic low of 0.5% was unanimous. The minutes state: “All members agreed that the events of the past month had not been significant enough to substantially alter [...]
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has stunned the markets by electing to keep interest rates on hold at 3.75%. The RBA has increased interest rates three times since October and many analysts said interest rates could hit 4.25% in the short-term. Australia is one of the few developed economies not to have fallen into [...]
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is today expected to keep UK interest rates on hold at the historically low level of 0.5% for the tenth month in a row. In addition, there is unlikely to be any change with regard to its quantitative easing (QE) scheme but growing signs that the UK [...]
The use of the cheque book continues to decline as consumers opt for quicker payment methods and, as a result, the cheque clearing system could end by 2018. Major retailers such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s no longer accept cheques, arguing that phasing out the use of cheques in stores resulted in quicker service and improved [...]
The ongoing legal battle between seven high street banks and one building society could reach a conclusion today. The Supreme Court will decide whether the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has the power to assess whether or not bank charges are fair. The case, which has been ongoing for more than two years, could see [...]
The ongoing legal battle between eight high street banks and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) over unauthorised overdraft charges might actually reach a conclusion next week. Wednesday 25 November is the date that has been set for the Supreme Court to decide whether the OFT has the power to assess whether or not bank [...]
The announcement that US car giant General Motors (GM) abandoned plans to sell a majority stake in its European car business Opel, including its UK brand Vauxhall, has led to a protest by thousands of the 25,000 workers at Opel’s four factories. In March, GM announced plans to offload Vauxhall and sister company, Germany-based Opel, [...]
A High Court judge has today ruled that employers are still able to dismiss workers when they reach the age of 65. Currently, the law means that a British worker can have their employment terminated at the age of 65 without redundancy payments – even if they do not want to retire. Furthermore, an employer [...]
It has been announced that banking giant Lloyds Banking Group is reviewing its decision to close down its Cheltenham & Gloucester (C&G) subsidiary. In June, the mega-bank said it was closing all of its 160 UK C&G branches with the loss of hundreds of jobs but the decision may now be reversed. The u-turn has [...]
A decision has been made on the case between the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the eight major High Street banks over unfair bank charges. Mr Justice Andrew Smith decided that OFT can rule on the fairness of the charges, which many customers have been trying to reclaim. The judgment by Mr Justice Andrew [...]
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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