New research from NS&I has revealed that 14% of Britons (7 million people) think they may have lost track of a financial product, highlighting the staggering amount of money left dormant with UK financial services providers. And it’s not just savings accounts, with a fifth (20%) admitting there is a possibility that they have lost…
Personal finance ‘paralysis’ costs UK consumers £18.7 billion per year, according to new research from Freedom Finance. Freedom Finance, the fintech lending platform, worked with a senior economist from Strathclyde Business School to calculate the cost of personal finance indecision. The study found a failure to switch or consolidate credit card debts costs UK consumers £10.5 billion a…
Usio Energy, an energy supplier with around 7,000 domestic customers, has ceased trading. The energy supply of Usio Energy customers will continue as normal, and their outstanding credit balances protected under Ofgem’s safety net. Ofgem will choose a new supplier to take on Usio Energy’s customers. This supplier will contact these customers individually when this…
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a warning to the high-cost short-term credit (HCSTC) sector amid a rise in complaints about unaffordable loans. The FCA has said it has sent a so-called “Dear CEO” letter to providers of high-cost short-term credit asking them to assess whether their creditworthiness assessments are compliant and whether borrowers…
The Government has been urged to put £2 billion back into Universal Credit (UC) to boost the living standards of almost 10 million parents and children in working families in the Budget by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). JRF says its new analysis shows almost three million children are now locked in poverty despite living in…
The Treasury Committee has published its response to the Household Finances Report from July. Commenting on the response, Rt Hon. Nicky Morgan MP, Chair of the Treasury Committee, said “In its report, the Committee expressed concern about the over-zealous debt collection practices of public authorities. The Government’s rehashing of existing policies in its response adds…
People over the age of 45 who have failed to make debt repayments are three times more likely than under 25s to have a credit card balance not settled in full every month, according to the latest Arrow Global consumer research. Delving further into the findings on those who have failed to make debt repayments,…
Competition is benefiting more energy consumers but many others, especially the vulnerable, are still getting a poor deal, according to Ofgem’s annual State of the Energy Market report. A quarter (25%) of customers are with small and medium-sized suppliers as more people switched to get a better deal. The market share of the six largest…
Fraud prevention service, Cifas, has released startling new figures showing a marked increase in the number young people falling victim to identity fraud. The new figures reveal that Cifas members identified a 24% increase in cases of under-21-year-olds falling victim to impersonation fraud in the first nine months of this year, a significant rise from…
Challenger credit bureau Credit Kudos has announced that it has created an Open Banking technology partnership with software development business Paylink Solutions. Using Open Banking, Paylink Solutions has a more efficient and secure process in place for individuals to provide financial information, rather than having to manually input these details and upload documents. Susan Rann,…