The UK’s five largest banks: Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and Santander, have launched a scheme aimed at providing support and financial advice for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The initiative comes at a time when banks have come under fire for not lending enough to SMEs. Under the Project Merlin [...]
People seeking financial advice should work out what they want to achieve with their money before visiting an advisor, a financial expert has claimed. Mike Fosberry, president of the Personal Finance Society, said people can have all sorts of objectives for their money, such as building up their pension, paying off debt, or making a [...]
Savers are increasingly relying on the internet as their first point of call for financial advice. Fidelity International said demand for web-based financial advice is on the increase, and is set keep on rising. Research by the group found 15% of British investors base their investment decisions solely on the websites of financial product providers. [...]
Two thirds of investors don’t bother seeking financial advice before making an investment, according to a new study. In a poll by the Fair Investment Company (FIC), 64% of respondents said they would not seek advice before making a decision about where to invest their money. Just 34% said they would get advice before making [...]
Two-thirds of investors would choose to invest ethically if they were properly informed about ethical investment opportunities, research by The Co-operative Investments has discovered. Ethical investments currently equate to less than 2% of the overall UK market. However, when ethical investment opportunities are explained to investors, 65% express interest in putting money into an ethical [...]
Consumers looking to alleviate the financial blues should seek advice from a certified and impartial source, a debt solutions group warned this week. Derek Oakley, head insolvency practitioner at Debt Free Direct, said financial advice is best sought from advisers who have “achieved the Debt Standard”. There can be “dramatic variations in the quality” of [...]
The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) has warned of a “worrying gap” in the availability of affordable financial advice for people approaching retirement. People over 50 are often asset rich, but cash poor, and cannot afford to pay for the financial advice they need, the CAB said. Many people in this age group have complex questions [...]
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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