Listening to what its customers want has paid off for the Yorkshire Building Society. In a survey, three out of five customers said they preferred to manage their account in branch, more than half said they wanted a passbook, and 70 per cent said they wanted a branch-based account with a competitive variable rate. . [...]
Wonga, the payday loan company, is planning to increase its range of financial products this year with a move into the online savings market. Wonga’s chief executive Errol Demelin confirmed the firm’s expansion plans at a meeting of the Albion Society, which brought together brands considered to be spearheading innovation in the personal finance market. [...]
There are just a few days left for savers to use their Isa allowance for the current tax year, which ends on 5 April. However, savers who miss out on this year’s allowance may get almost as good a deal from an ordinary savings account according to new research by consumer group Which? Isas have [...]
Leeds Building Society has launched a new online savings account offering unlimited access. The Albion Web Saver pays interest at up to 2.25%, and gives savers penalty free access to their money. To open the account, savers need to deposit at least £2,500. A spokesperson for the building society said the account was launched following [...]
Leeds Building Society (LBS) has launched a new instant access passbook savings account paying up to 2.5% interest. Customers opening an Albion Saver passbook account are given a passbook that allows them to deposit and withdraw money at any LBS branch. Opening the account requires a minimum deposit of £2,500. The standard gross interest rate [...]
Leeds Building Society has launched a new savings account to help older people pay for their winter heating bill. The Winter Fuel Saver account is available only to customers aged over 60 and pays interest at 5.12% through the winter months. When winter is over on 28 February the account’s interest rate drops to 0.25%. [...]
Savers are signing up for the Albion Cheque instant access account at Leeds Building Society (LBS) in record numbers. LBS said the account, which pays interest at up to 2.5%, has seen a significant uplift in the number of new customers signing up, as well as in the account balance of current customers. “We have [...]
Halifax this week announced the launch of its 2009 Christmas Saver account aimed at encouraging low income families to put money aside for the Yuletide season. The monthly deposit account has been designed to foster a culture of saving among users of social banking services – a habit that has declined in recent years. Halifax [...]
Saga Personal Finance has launched two new fixed-rate savings accounts for savers aged 50+. The eighteen month account pays interest at 3.45% AER, whilst the two year account pays 3.5% AER. Savers can opt to have interest paid on a monthly or a yearly basis, although no funds can be withdrawn from either account during [...]
The Nottingham has launched a new savings account designed to meet the needs of children under 16. The Child Regular Saver can be opened with a deposit of just £10, and offers a guaranteed interest rate of 5% fixed until April 2010. Relatives can pay up to £100 into the account every month. Once the [...]
Nationwide International this week reduced the interest rate on its US Dollar accounts. The offshore subsidiary of Nationwide Building Society cut the interest paid on its US Dollar Tracker Premium account to 0.50% AER, whilst the US Dollar Savings account rate was moved down to 0.25% AER. Nationwide said the new rates were a response [...]
Research released yesterday reveals that savings accounts are still popular with Brits despite tumbling interest rates. In a survey conducted by Fairinvestment.co.uk, 36% of respondents said they continue to keep their money in a savings account with banks or building societies despite interest rates falling as low as 0%. Over a quarter, 26%, put their [...]
Santander-owned Abbey has reissued its Super Fixed Rate Monthly and Fixed Rate Monthly savings accounts. The company said it hopes the two reissued accounts will help customers kick-start their New Year’s resolution to start saving. Abbey’s Super Fixed Rate Monthly Saver offers a 7% AER for 12 months, provided no withdrawals are made, and between [...]
Nationwide Building Society has launched a new online savings product. E-Savings Plus accounts are run like Nationwide’s FlexAccounts, and offer savers a gross AER of up to 3.75%. The new account is designed for savers who want a competitive interest rate, but also need to access their savings. Customers can withdraw money from the account [...]
Gender directive could slash men’s annuity payouts
The EU Gender Directive, which came into force today, could see men losing up to £10,000 from their annuity payouts, according to research by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Under the new rules insurers are no longer allowed to take gender into account when setting annuity rates and premiums on insurance products. Men previously enjoyed higher annuity rates than [...]
Home rental costs down in November
The cost of renting a house in England and Wales fell by 0.4 per cent in November, its first dip since March, according to a survey by LSL Property Services. Average rent was £741m during the month, returning to the level seen in September. However, it was 3.4 per higher than in November last year. [...]
Lloyds TSB halts sale of packaged accounts in branches
Lloyds TSB will stop selling packaged account in its branches from 1 January 2013, until its sales procedures are brought into line with those operated by sister bank The Halifax. Lloyds TSB is one of the main providers of packaged accounts in Britain, with around one in three of its customers choosing to pay fees [...]
Housing market recovery to continue next year
Recent improvements in the housing market should continue into next year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) Gross lending is estimated to have increased to £12.9 billion in November, helped by the Funding for Lending scheme which provides banks and building societies with lower-cost funding, which they are then supposed to pass on [...]
Newcastle Building Society exits interest-only mortgages
Newcastle Building Society has stopped offering interest-only mortgages to new borrowers, following the lead of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Nationwide, Co-operative bank and Coventry Building Society. The decision will not affect existing Newcastle customers and applications for interest-only mortgages received before 14 December will still be processed. Prior to the credit crunch, interest-only mortgages [...]
Less than half of Brits considered creditworthy
Fifty-seven per cent of UK adults are at risk of having an application for credit turned down by a mainstream lender according to a new report. The ‘Mind the Credit Gap‘ report commissioned by aqua credit cards suggests that even people with a good credit rating and earning more than £50,000 could have a credit [...]
Monthly incomes £22 lower in 2012
The average monthly income of UK households fell by £22 in real terms compared with last year, according to a survey carried out for the Bank of England (BoE) by NMG Consulting. People on lower incomes have seen their income eroded more than higher earners and households still have high levels of debt the BoE [...]
Savers dig deep to fund Christmas
New research from the Halifax suggests that savers are funding their Christmas spending with money set aside for other purposes. Thirty-seven per cent of 2,138 savers surveyed by the bank at the end of November had withdrawn savings in the last three months. The average amount withdrawn was £1,186, more than double the average savings [...]
Financial data at risk from unsafe passwords
According to a survey by the Payments Council the problem of having to remember a different password for several accounts means that many internet users are compromising the security of their financial data. Internet users have 22 password-protected accounts on average and many use the same log-in details for more than one account, even though [...]
Wonga launches Paylater loans on retailer website
Payday loan company Wonga has launched a new Paylater service on furniture firm Cotswold Company’s website. The service, which allows customers to “buy now, pay later” will be introduced on other retailers’ sites in the near future. Although the Paylater branding is similar to Wonga’s, the Wonga name only appears in the small print. A [...]
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