Unbiased.co.uk, which operates a website providing independent financial advice, has published a report showing a strong increase in UK consumer borrowing during the first quarter of 2007. In the three months to the end of March the value of secured and unsecured debt taken-up increased to almost £15 billion, representing an increase of almost £100 [...]
Fears of a further interest rate rise have been heightened by the revelation that the recent decision by the Bank of England to hold rates was decided by just one vote. The Monetary Policy Committee, which comprises nine members, voted by five votes to four to keep rates at 5.5%. At the time, analysts held [...]
The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has published figures showing that in May, mortgage lending increased by £5.8 billion, up from £5.1 billion in April. The increase represents the steepest rise over a six months period, during which the average monthly increase was £5.4 billion. At the same time seasonally adjusted data from the Buildings Societies’ [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has recorded a sharp increase in the number of penalties imposed for breaches in its treating customers fairly (TCF) code of practice. According to Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, the law firm, TCF fines increased to 40% of all fines imposed by the authority in the 12 months to end March 2007. [...]
The Government has published its proposals to provide over one million people with local cash points that do not charge a fee. In December last year the ATM Working Group concluded that the free-to-use cash machines were urgently needed in approximately 600 communities where no such facility was available. To date 471 sites have been [...]
Halifax is promoting its current account by offering a £100 bonus to new customers prepared to switch their main current account to any Halifax mainstream account. Such accounts include a high interest current account that pays an impressive 6% on credit balances, and the Halifax Moneyback current account, which charges interest of 6.9% on authorised [...]
Moneyspider.com, the online ISA rating and valuation service, has reported that events in the global corporate bond (CB) market are likely to have a seriously adverse effect on large numbers of private investors. CB values are expected to experience further decline and the rise in interest rates has led bond managers both in the US [...]
Lloyds TSB has plans to sell Abbey Life, the closed life insurance company, for an estimated £1 billion. There are reports of strong interest in the business from three contenders: Resolution, the life market consolidator, Swiss Re, the Swiss-based reinsurer, and Pearl Group. All three are believed to have submitted indicative offers to Lehman and [...]
The Association of Payment Clearing Services (Apacs), the body that represents banks and credit card companies, has issued a report stating that approximately one in 10 tills in the UK have not been updated to accept the chip and pin method of payment. So far, 770,000 of the country’s 860,000 tills have not been upgraded. [...]
Alliance & Leicester has developed a new system that is designed to allow migrant and temporary workers to have access to wages that, in the majority of cases, are being paid in cash or with a cheque. The bank is launching a Visa pre-paid card, which will also have a number of benefits for companies [...]
National Savings & Investments has published its spring 2007 Quarterly Savings Survey, which contains findings indicating that one third of adults in the UK are not sufficiently seriously minded about their savings plans. Some offset the need for a detailed financial plan with expectations of higher earnings in future years, and are more likely to [...]
Henderson Rowe, the investment manager, is to launching a new fund on 18th June, which will be based on the firm’s Dogs of the FTSE 100 strategy, which invests solely into the 15 stocks with the highest prospective yields in the FTSE 100 Index. Companies in this category include Lloyds TSB, Vodafone and Shell. Typically, [...]
The Government is introducing new pension measures that will give all UK employees the right to a workplace pension with a contribution from their employer, in 2012. Details of the Personal Accounts scheme have now been published whereby employee contributions will be matched £1 for £1 by a combination of contributions from their employer and [...]
The Financial Services Authority is currently investigating claims that some borrowers are being overcharged by mortgage advisers, amid reports of fees of up to £7,000 for a £100,000 loan. Some brokers are charging extra for selling loans to those with a poor credit history, or those who have their income determined by monthly variable commission [...]
Alliance & Leicester has appointed a new Chief Executive. The post has been filled by David Bennett, who has been the bank’s finance director for the past four years and will take over from Richard Pym, on 27th July. As finance director, David Bennett has been central in developing the bank’s core focus on loans, [...]
Michael Geoghegan, the Chief Executive of HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank, has rejected recent suggestions that the bank should be broken up. He sees HSBC’s global presence and network and distribution abilities as a major advantage to the business and is instead focusing on enabling different areas of the business to form stronger links and integrate [...]
Moneysupermarket.com, the comparison website, has issued a report highlighting dramatic differences between the unauthorised overdraft charges levied by UK banks. For customers going £60 into the red charges vary from £25 to £133, depending on their bank. The system certainly lacks consistency and could be regarded as unjust. Moneysupermarket.com researched the charges levied by the [...]
