Dr Ros Altmann, a former Downing Street pensions adviser, believes there should be an inquiry into the profit margins of credit card companies. Dr Altmann, who is a former academic and independent expert on pensions policy and retirement, believes there might be a case for a regulator to oversee the rates they charge. Last week, [...]
Card-payment processing company, E-Clear, has been placed into administration. The company was responsible for online ticket sales at Scottish airline Flyglobespan, which collapsed in December. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which was appointed administrator for Flyglobespan, had been investigating E-Clear to establish why the company held back £35 million owed to Globespan Group, which operated Flyglobespan. E-Clear was [...]
There is more disappointment today for Christmas travellers after it emerged that Hertfordshire-based Allbury Travel Group has been placed into administration. The company, which traded as Libra Holidays, Argo Holidays and JetLife, ceased trading at midnight. It specialised in holidays to Greece and Cyprus and has left 100 customers overseas, while a further 4,000 had [...]
An investigation is underway at Kaupthing – the Icelandic bank which collapsed last autumn. Kaupthing, which was once Iceland’s largest bank, collapsed along with Glitnir and Landsbanki at the height of the banking crisis last year and all three banks had to be nationalised. This led the Iceland Government to seek billions of dollars worth [...]
Investors opening a Virgin Money Climate Change ISA might expect their money to be invested in firms carefully screened for their ethical credentials. In truth, however, their savings could be invested in arms manufacturers, mining firms, tobacco companies, and oil giants. This shocking discovery was made by ethical business blogger Toby Webb. “I had expected [...]
An investigation by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) found that consumers struggle to understand current account charges, as well as interest rates and overdraft fees. As a result, new measures from 2011 will see banks make it easier for consumers to understand their costs and charges, as well as making the switching process easier. [...]
Unfair credit rating practices could be called to a halt by MPs following a parliamentary investigation. Currently consumers have to apply for a loan or credit card to find out the interest rate they’ll be offered. However, each application lowers their credit score – so the more a consumer searches around for the best deal, [...]
Banks are pocketing extra cash rather than passing on lower interest rates to mortgage customers, a Daily Mail investigation revealed this week. Homeowners are paying an average of £1,788 per year more than they should be as banks use the historically low base rate of 0.5% to shore up their ailing coffers. Twelve months ago [...]
Which? has been investigating equity release advisers only to find that two-thirds failed to pass benchmarks for good advice. Researchers working for the consumer group visited 40 advisers, 12 of whom specialised in equity release. A disappointing five from this group passed the Which? test, compared with eight of the 28 independent financial advisers surveyed. [...]
Deutsche Bank, Germany’s biggest lender, is likely to face a criminal investigation after it is being accused of spying on two of its board members. According to a report in Handelsblatt, the two board members are supervisory board member Hermann-Josef Lamberti and shareholder Michael Bohndorf. The lender has been accused of spying on the aforementioned, [...]
An investigation by Channel 4 News claims that up to £100 is being added to the cost of some Home Information Packs (HIPS) to line the pockets of estate agents. In one case cited by the programme, a homeowner was paying almost £150 more for a pack than the price originally quoted by the HIP [...]
According to The Sunday Telegraph, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has asked PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to conduct an inquiry into the board of directors at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) with regard to the £12 billion rights issue carried out last year. The investigation will examine the bank’s risk management process and establish whether the stock [...]
UBS, which is Switzerland’s largest, bank, has reported a first quarter loss of SwFr1.98 billion (£1.2 billion). The bank said the losses were attributed to write-downs on risky investments. However the loss was less than the SwFr9.5 billion reported for the fourth quarter of 2008. The Swiss bank is among one of the worst hit [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has revealed that some insurance comparison sites are providing incorrect or out-of-date information. An investigation of insurance comparison websites found that although all the sites were properly authorised, there was mixed evidence in the clarity, fairness and accuracy of information given to customers. The industry is growing fast and the [...]
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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