Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The Credit Services Association (CSA) has secured an agreement with Royal Mail to bring the Test & Innovate Scheme (TIS) to the collections industry. TIS is an incentive for trying new ideas in mail applications that could prompt higher response rates from customers. These range from changes to letter content and layout through to envelope changes…
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There is a market failure in the provision of credit for financially vulnerable people who have to borrow to meet their essential costs, according to a major new report – ‘The high cost of credit’ – by StepChange Debt Charity. Over one million people in the UK are using high-cost credit to cover their everyday…
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UK Finance has released its latest UK Card Expenditure Statistics for May 2017. The statistics include: A third of card payments are now contactless, up to 33 per cent from 18 per cent in May 2016; A total of £4.5 billion was spent via contactless in May 2017, compared to £3.9 billion in April 2017; The…
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More than 4 in 10 UK consumers say that they are still negatively impacted by financial mistakes they made in the past, according to research from Aviva. A greater number still say they wish they had managed their finances differently (64%) while 63% wish they had learnt more about financial matters when they were younger.…
Read moreMoneySuperMarket analysed three million loan enquiries made on its Smart Search tool from January 2015 – March 2017 to find that more than one in four (28 per cent) Brits want to borrow an amount equal to at least half of their annual income. Worryingly, almost 10 per cent of personal loan enquiries are from people hoping…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show consumer finance new business grew in May by 8% compared with the same month last year. Credit card and personal loan new business together grew by 11% compared with May 2016, while retail store and online credit new business increased by 3%. Second charge…
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Working families with children are facing bigger shortfalls in their household budgets this year, despite an increase in the National Living Wage and tax cuts, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s authoritative annual report on living standards. A return to inflation combined with a freeze in working benefits has caused the shortfall to increase for…
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New research from innovative equity release lender more 2 life has revealed that 41% of over 65 year olds with a mortgage are on an interest-only product. Of these borrowers, almost 4 in ten are 65-74 year olds and over half (56%) are over 75 years old. Individuals who do not have a separate savings…
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Three-quarters of students will never clear their debt with the average debt now standing at £50,000 according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) report. Students in England graduate with average debts of £50,800, after interest rates are raised on student loans to 6.1%.Other key findings in the report include: Those from the poorest backgrounds…
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Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for July 2017: Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1.537 trillion at the end of May 2017. This is up from £1.489 trillion at the end of May 2016 – an extra £929.97 per UK adult Based on May 2017 trends, the UK’s…
Read moreThe Bank of England has announced that it will force banks to find a further £11.4 billion in the next 18 months to beef up their finances against the risk of bad loans. Banks will have to set aside £5.7bn in the next six months in case future economic shocks mean some borrowers cannot keep…
Read moreDigital change is radically altering consumer expectations in the mortgage market and “raising the bar for what borrowers expect from their home buying and owning experience,” according to research published today by the Council of Mortage Lendrs (CML). Launched at the CML Mortgage Tech UK conference in London, the research Digital Change and Mortgage Borrowers says that technology…
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The British Bankers Association (BBA) latest data from the high street banks shows that consumer credit growth was 5.1% in May, compared with 6.4% in the previous month. Gross mortgage borrowing totalled £13.3 billion in May. Net mortgage borrowing was 2.4% higher than a year ago. Eric Leenders, BBA Managing Director for Retail Banking said: “This…
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