Cheshire Building Society has announced the launch of a brand new cash ISA with a rate of 3.06% AER tax-free (variable) on balances exceeding £1,000. The rate includes a 2.06% AER tax-free introductory fixed bonus that lasts until 30 September 2013. Cheshire Building Society will write to customers a month before the expiration of the [...]
Savers in rural Britain are out-saving their counterparts in urban areas and stashing away more in relation to their earnings, according to latest research from Halifax. With an average balance of £9,202, rural savers are almost £1,300 (16%) ahead of their urban peers who have only managed to squirrel away an average £7,906. In addition, [...]
The latest Moneymood survey from Legal & General shows a shift in focus among savers towards short-term needs, such as putting petrol in the car to get to work. According to the research, the top two reasons for saving remain unchanged from last year, with saving for a rainy day a top priority (66%), followed [...]
Growing pessimism about household finances means that almost a third of Britons expect to cut back on their spending this year, according to new research by Ipsos MORI for the Resolution Foundation. In addition, around a quarter (23%) of adults questioned see their household finances worsening in 2012, with those on low to middle incomes [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is planning to make it obligatory for all banks, building societies and credit unions in the UK to prominently display how much compensation savers could claim in the event of an institution failing, and where from. The information will need to be displayed in every branch and on all websites. [...]
The Co-operative Bank has commissioned research which reveals that less than half (42%) of Britons saved for Christmas this year. The survey reveals average savings of £423, with men saving £460 for Christmas and women £400, on average. Regionally, the foremost saving areas were London, Northern Ireland and the North East, and those saving least [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has warned that traded life policy investments (TLPIs) are high risk, toxic products that are generally unsuitable for the majority of UK retail investors and should therefore not be promoted to them. TLPIs are known as “death bonds” because investors are putting their money into a pooled investment or fund [...]
Today Halifax has launched a new Junior Stocks & Shares ISA, which will enable customers to top up and value their investment online. The new ISA will seek to track the performance of the FTSE 100 Index, and requires a minimum opening balance of £20. Halifax Savings and Investment Director Simon Kenyon described the new [...]
Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks today have announced the launch of a new Cash ISA Fixed Rate Bond with a maturity date of the 31st October 2013. The two year ISA features an interest rate of 4% Gross/AER, mirroring the bank’s two year Term Deposit rate. The ISA has a minimum opening balance of £2,000, and [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has drawn up further guidance for firms developing new structured products for the retail market. The regulator has assessed seven major providers of structured products and found that weaknesses remain in the way firms are designing and approving their offerings. Put plainly, providers are tending to focus on their own [...]
Younger Britons are getting into debt earlier in life and will be prevented from acquiring the level of assets secured by their parents and grandparents. The conclusions come from the Debt and the Generations report, commissioned by the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS), which also warns that falling real incomes are making it increasingly difficult [...]
UK savers remain committed to their Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs), research from Halifax shows. Across the country, the average cash ISA balance currently stands at £8,505, or one-third of national average pre-tax annual earnings (£27,235). However, of the 30 regions surveyed, the top 22 for ISA balances are clustered in southern England, with residents of [...]
Nationwide Building Society has announced that from 1 November it is launching a new Smart Junior Cash ISA. The new product will pay an overall rate of 3.00% AER tax-free (variable), including an introductory 0.90% until 31 October 2013. The Smart Junior Cash ISA is available to children under 16 who reside in the UK [...]
Credit Suisse UK has been fined £5.95 million by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) regarding sales by its private bank of structured capital at risk products (SCARPs), which can result in investors seeing all their initial capital wiped out. According to the regulator, between January 2007 and December 2009 Credit Suisse UK customers invested over [...]
Worsening household finances were evident across all income groups and regions covered by the latest Markit Household Finance Index. Notably, those with mortgages were feeling the pain, with 41% of respondents in this category reporting tighter finances in October. The research also highlights a steep reversal in the outlook for finances in 12 months’ time, [...]
A new steering group has been set up to help the development of simple financial products that can be easily understood by consumers. The group, which will submit its final report to Mark Hoban, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, by July of next year, is to be chaired by Carol Sergeant, former chief risk officer [...]
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) says it will shortly begin writing to UK residents and organisations holding Swiss bank accounts with HSBC in Geneva. Those targeted are unlikely to have reported all their income and gains to the Revenue, which is acting on information received last year indicating that over 6,000 UK individuals, companies, and [...]
