Only 43% of consumers start new decade with finances in good shape

3rd January 2020 Consumer Collections |

According to new research by GoCompare, only 43% of consumers will start the new decade with their finances in good shape. Younger adults are the least optimistic about their finances.  Just 29% of 18 to 24-year olds and 26% of 25 to 34-year olds feel they are in good order.  In stark contrast, over half…

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Lenders put squeeze on balance transfers rates

3rd January 2020 Consumer Collections |

Research by credit specialist TotallyMoney and MoneyComms has warned that lenders are putting the squeeze on introductory 0% interest cards for balance transfers. Consumers looking to take charge of their debt in the new year may struggle to find a deal that lasts long enough to clear their debt interest-free. The research shows lenders are…

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Credit Connect to host collections technology webinar

2nd January 2020 Consumer Collections |

Credit Connect Media will host its first free live webinar in February. The webinar titled “How to accelerate effective collections with digital transformation” will be the first of a series of webinars looking at the latest thematic innovations enhancing collections strategy. The first partner for the webinar will be Lightico, winner of the Contact Centre…

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Credit card plateau may herald change in 2020

20th December 2019 Consumer Collections |

A noticeable levelling off of credit card lending over the second half of 2019 so far bucks a significant long-term trend, suggesting that we may see big changes in the credit market during 2020, according to the December 2019 Money Statistics, produced by The Money Charity. In 2019, after years of considerable, rapid growth, credit…

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Money Statistics: December 2019

20th December 2019 Consumer Collections |

Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for December 2019: Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1,665 billion at the end of October 2019. The average total debt per household, including mortgages, was £59,840 and per adult was £31,569, around 111.7% of average earnings. Net mortgage lending rose…

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Consumer car finance market decreased by 4% in October

19th December 2019 Consumer Collections |

New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that new business volumes in the consumer car finance market fell by 4% in October 2019 compared with the same month in 2018, and held steady in the first ten months to October. Within the overall figures, the new car finance market reported new…

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Consumer finance new business decreased by 2% in October

19th December 2019 Consumer Collections |

New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that consumer finance new business was 2% lower in October 2019 than the same month in 2018, and held steady in the first ten months to October. Within this overall picture, retail store and online credit new business grew in October by 1% compared…

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Banks urged not to hide repeated-overdraft use strategies

18th December 2019 Consumer Collections |

Banks have been urged by debt charity StepChange ‘not to shroud their repeated-overdraft use strategies in mystery’. With new rules on overdraft repeat use starting today (18th December 2019), the charity says that banks will need careful oversight by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to ensure they break the cycle of financially vulnerable people getting…

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FCA calls for ‘open finance’ proposals

17th December 2019 Consumer Collections |

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched a Call for Input (CfI) on the opportunities presented by so-called ‘open finance.’ Open finance builds on the principles of open banking – the sharing of data which provides new ways for customers and businesses to make the most of their money. Open finance would extend those principles…

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Consumers set to spend almost £1000 over the Christmas period

17th December 2019 Consumer Collections |

The Christmas period is set to cost British consumers almost £1,000 each. A study of 2,000 adults found celebrating the festive season by buying presents, food and drink, and outfits for parties will see them splash out an average of £973.80 per person. Gifts for friends and family take up more than half of the…

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Consumers ready to use retina recognition technology

17th December 2019 Consumer Collections |

More than six in ten consumers (62%) would be happy to try retina recognition identification, according to new research from Equifax. In general, respondents were very open to trying new forms of biometric verification, including fingerprint (61%), facial recognition (57%) and palm verifier (57%). There was, however, some reluctance when it came to verification by…

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High loan to value mortgage lending takes largest share in a decade

11th December 2019 Consumer Collections |

The Bank of England has published its latest lending figures. The figures show that high loan to value (LTV) mortgages advanced in the three months to September accounted for the largest share of overall mortgages in more than a decade. Quarter three statistics from the Bank of England revealed that the share of lending above…

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Secure Trust Bank and Jaywing announce AI for application scoring partnership

10th December 2019 Consumer Collections |

Secure Trust Bank has become the first UK lender to complete live deployment of credit application models built using Archetype, the proprietary ‘explainable’ AI-driven software of credit scoring from Jaywing. The Archetype software generated a significant uplift in predictive power compared to a traditional linear model and is projected to provide substantial reductions in bad…

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