Nationwide Building Society, Britain’s biggest mutual lender, has told Reuters news agency that it is interested in purchasing the portfolio of branches being sold by Royal Bank of Scotland. The acquisition would support Nationwide’s plan to start lending to small and medium-sized enterprises. Speaking to Reuters, Nationwide’s chief executive Graham Beale said: “Strategically we want […]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is seeking a new buyer for 316 branches after a deal with Santander fell through, and is believed to have approached Virgin Money. RBS is required the sell the branches under the EU conditions attached to the £45 billion bailout it received from the government when it came to the […]
Santander has increased its standard variable rate (SVR) from 4.24 per cent to 4.74 per cent, adding an extra £26 per month to monthly repayments on a £100,000 mortgage. The move, which was announced in August, came into effect today. The increase will affect existing mortgage customers who are on the SVR rate, including customers […]
New research by Santander has found that eleven million adults in the UK have no savings to fall back on in times of crisis. This equates to one in five adults, and those who are saving, are saving less than they used to, Santander found. Over the past year, the average amount saved each month […]
Banks, building societies and credit unions will have to display information in branches, clearly telling customers how much of their savings are covered by a compensation scheme. Savings in UK banks and some foreign banks are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The scheme covers savings up to the value of £85,000. It […]
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) will protect depositors in Santander, the scheme’s chief executive, Mark Neale, said. Deposits up to the value of £85,000 are protected by the scheme and savers with more than this amount should distribute the money across different banks and building societies, to ensure that the total amount is protected. […]
A court ruling writing off a consumer’s £5,126 store-card debt has opened the door for similar cases according to a report by the BBC. Judge Henrietta Manners ruled at Clerkenwell and Shoreditch county court that Santander must write-off the debt on a credit card held by Diana Mayhew. Ms Mayhew’s store card was automatically upgraded […]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined Santander £1.5m for failing to explain to customers that some of its investment products were not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The FSCS is a financial safety net which pays compensation to customers of financial services firms authorised by the FSA, if the firm itself […]
A study by Santander, one of the world’s largest banks, has revealed that people are funding Christmas this year by dipping into their savings. High unemployment, inflation at around 5 per cent and the threat of another recession are all putting pressure on people’s pockets and causing them to use their savings to pay for […]
Santander has joined with Moneysupermarket.com to add an extra sweetener to a deal designed to tempt people to switch their bank account. Anyone who switches their main current account to Santander’s Preferred Current Account via the Moneysupermarket.com price comparison site, could receive £30 in Amazon vouchers as well a £300 cashback reward. However, customers who […]
The Post Office has extended its promise to match the Bank of England Base Rate percentage changes on its savings products, until 1 January 2013. The promise, which was originally planned to run until 31 March 2012, covers the Post Office’s Instant Saver, Reward Saver, Cash ISA and Easy Saver accounts. The Post Office has […]
Santander has launched an innovative new product which allows customers to receive £1,000 interest almost immediately, on an investment of £12,000. The Upfront Interest Bond has a minimum three-year term and a minimum initial deposit of £10,000 is required. It is only available to Santander current account customers and interest on the bond will be […]
Santander UK has announced a new savings bond designed for people who want to inflation-proof their savings. The six-year Inflation Linked Savings Bond will pay the percentage rise in the Retail Price Index (RPI) when it matures, on top of the saver’s initial deposit. Savers can invest between £500 to £2 million in the bond […]
Figures from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) have revealed that the three most complained about British banks are Barclays, Lloyds and Santander. According to the FSA, Barclays received more than a quarter of a million complaints in the first half of 2011. Lloyds received 181,907 complaints in the six month period, while Santander had 168,888 […]
Spanish banking giant Santander has today revealed its first half profits were hit by costs relating to its mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI). The controversial insurance has been a hot topic for some time now and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) introduced a review of the insurance after millions of policies were mis-sold and […]
Spanish banking giant Santander has announced it will return all of its call centres to the UK from India after complaints from its customers. It will create 500 jobs as part of the process and it is the latest in a series of customer service focus initiatives from the bank. Santander has a major UK […]
Spanish banking giant Santander has today reported a fall in 2010 net profits, due to changes on bad loan provisions. The bank, which is the euro zone’s largest, said net income fell to €2.1 billion from €2.2 billion a year earlier. Before the changes to one-off provisions, which were put in place as a precautionary […]
Spanish banking giant Santander has admitted to sending the bank statements of thousands of customers to the wrong addresses following a printing error. The bank, which is now one of the largest on the UK High Street, said current account holders have received the first page of their own statement and pages two and three […]
It has been revealed this morning that António Horta-Osório, chief executive of Santander’s UK businesses, will replace Eric Daniels, who is stepping down from Lloyds Banking Group. Fifty-nine-year-old Daniels announced in September that he would be retiring next year. Daniels, who is the longest serving CEO at a major British bank, faced heavy criticism following […]
Spanish banking giant, Santander, has today reported a fall in third quarter profits, due to changes on bad loan provisions. The bank, which is the euro zone’s largest, said third quarter profits fell 13% to €2.1 billion (£1.8 billion) as provisions for bad loans hampered results. Before the changes to one-off provisions, which were put […]
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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