News Tag: savers
March 10, 2010
State-owned bank Northern Rock has today announced losses for the 2009 year fell to £258 million, compared with £1.36 billion in the previous year.
Despite the loss, the Newcastle-based bank said it is awarding staff £14.9m in bonuses but Gary Hoffman, the chief executive of Northern Rock, is waiving his payout.
Northern Rock said Mr Hoffman’s long-term incentive plan would only pay out after ...
Northern Rock sees losses narrow
by Kay Murchie
February 24, 2010
The Treasury has today announced savers with Northern Rock will lose the Government’s 100% guarantee on 24 May.
The move means the crisis-torn bank is back in line with its rivals but savers will still benefit from the £50,000 guarantee to all savers under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
The 100% guarantee was put in place after Northern Rock collapsed ...
Northern Rock savers to lose 100% guarantee
by Kay Murchie
January 20, 2010
Nationwide Building Society has increased the rates on a number of its Fixed Rate Bonds and e-Bonds.
These include: Three year Fixed Rate Bond and e-Bond paying up to 4.70% gross p.a./AER for balances over £25,000.
Two year Fixed Rate Bond and e-Bond paying up to 4.10% gross p.a./AER for balances over £25,000.
18 month Fixed Rate Bond and e-Bond paying up to 3.50% ...
Nationwide increases rates on fixed-rate bonds
by Kay Murchie
January 5, 2010
Icelandic President, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, has vetoed the repayment of a £2.3 billion loan to the UK Government.
The debt relates to the collapse of Landsbanki which collapsed at the height of the banking crisis in autumn 2008 and 300,000 British savers saw their accounts frozen with the bank’s online Icesave brand.
The Treasury stepped in with a 100% guarantee for individual savers ...
Iceland president vetoes repayment to UK
by Kay Murchie
October 26, 2009
Government-backed National Savings & Investments (NS&I), which runs Premium Bonds and a variety of savings products, has unveiled a rise in the interest rates on some of its policies.
The news will be welcomed by savers who have been suffering amid the historically low interest rate environment.
NS&I said rates on its guaranteed growth bonds and guaranteed income ...
NS&I hopes to attract more savers as it raises rates
by Kay Murchie
August 5, 2009
Savers with more than £25,000 stashed away saw their interest rates plummet 0.5% between February and May this year.
A study of 725 savings products by private bank Investec found accounts with a balance of £25,000 or more had their interest rates cut by an average of 0.516% between 1 February and 1 May 2009.
Instant access accounts were even harder hit, with interest rates ...
Top savers losing out
by David Masters
August 3, 2009
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has revealed a staggering £21 billion has been paid out to UK savers in the six months after the onset of the credit crisis.
This compares with £1 billion in the seven years prior to the credit crisis.
The FSCS, which is the body established to compensate victims of banking failures, reimburses up to ...
FSCS pays £21bn to protect UK savers
by Kay Murchie
May 26, 2009
A survey conducted by Help the Aged and Age Concern charity revealed that over half of workers over 50 may need to postpone their retirement since their savings and pensions have been hit by the economic downturn.
While mortgage borrowers have benefited due to record low interest rates, savers have been hit, while pension funds have been ...
Survey reveals bleak picture for workers aged 50 and over
by Kay Murchie
April 22, 2009
There has been welcome news for savers in the budget today as savers over the age of 50 will be given the opportunity to increase their tax free savings in their Isas, as the limit is to increase from £7,200 to £10,200.
For those over 50, the change will happen from 6 October and for all other savers from April ...
Isa allowance increase in budget gives savers hope
by Peter Charalambous
April 7, 2009
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, sixteen percent of those polled said the Bank ...
Savers befuddled by interest rate cuts
by David Masters
April 3, 2009
The Co-operative Bank has increased profits by 70 percent (for the year to 10 January) as depositors fled to what has always been seen as the “boring bank” but in troubled times, many savers have warmed to its security.
In a period where its competitors struggled, retail deposits increased by 17 percent whilst corporate deposits rose 27 ...
Co-op bank shines in the beleaguered banking world after profit announcement
by Peter Charalambous
March 6, 2009
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 of the trackers, they will receive ...
RBS denies mortgage borrowers full base rate cut
by Gill Montia
March 5, 2009
As widely expected, the Bank of England has lowered interest rates to a new historic low of 0.5% as it continues its attempts at stimulating the economy.
Since October, interest rates have been cut six times in a bid to fight off the recession but the latest cut has been widely criticised since they have done little, ...
Further blow to savers as UK interest rates cut to 0.5%
by Kay Murchie
March 4, 2009
Further cuts to the Bank of England's base rate (BBR) would be an 'assault' on both savers and borrowers, the Building Societies Association (BSA) said this week.
The BBR is already at an all time low of 1%, and analysts widely expect the central bank to announce additional cuts later this week.
However, the BSA warned that cutting the BBR again would be ...
BSA: Rate cuts an ‘assault’ on savers
by David Masters
March 3, 2009
According to the Building Societies Association (BSA), over one million people opened a new building society savings account last year.
Building societies have benefited since the collapse of Icelandic banks, Icesave and Kaupthing Edge, and the near collapse of Northern Rock, Bradford & Bingley, RBS, HBOS/Lloyds. The BSA said an additional 1.2 million accounts (net of closures) were opened during ...
Building societies benefit as savers seek save haven
by Kay Murchie
February 8, 2009
The Bank of England’s quarterly inflation report, due to be published later this week, is set to reassure that savers in Britain have not been ‘abandoned’ following aggressive cuts in interest rates.
The Bank of England’s Governor, Mervyn King, will insist that rates will return to normal levels as soon as possible, by steering the economy ...
Bank of England to assure Britons’ savers in its quarterly inflation report
by Kay Murchie
February 4, 2009
An influential think tank believes that a cut in interest rates this week would not benefit the economy but said other moves such as the Bank of England purchasing corporate bonds would be better.
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee begins its two-day rate setting meeting today and has aggressively cut rates since October last year when rates ...
Think tank believes rate cut this week is ‘pointless’
by Kay Murchie
January 15, 2009
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.
Moneysupermarket.com's head of mortgages, Louise Cuming , ...
Base rate cut angers Britain’s savers
by David Masters
January 8, 2009
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 mortgages early, lower savings ...
Base rate cut a double-edged sword for mortgage lenders
by Gill Montia
October 8, 2008
Yesterday, it was warned that British savers of internet bank Icesave, an arm of Landsbanki, may struggle to claim their money.
Earlier this week, the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority announced that the country's Government had seized control of Landsbanki, which owns Icesave.
However, today Chancellor Alistair Darling has guaranteed that UK savers will get their money back.
A spokesperson for the ...
UK Icesave savers will get their money back
by Kay Murchie
