Outdated assessments push consumer debt off track

28th September 2017 Consumer Collections |

Among growing concerns about high consumer debt levels in the UK, a new study finds that almost a third of credit card and personal loan debt – up to £35bn – is sitting with people who are deemed to have low financial maturity. Aire, which uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to help lenders provide applicants…

Read more

Ofcom announces billing and collection reforms

21st September 2017 Consumer Collections |

Ofcom has announced new reforms to protect consumers against bad practices at broadband and mobile providers. The regulator says the reform will focus on communication which includes poor billing service and debt collection exploiting vulnerable customers. The improvements to the rules will also include nuisance calls and complaints. The reforms include: ban providers from charging for caller display facilities,…

Read more

Money Statistics: September 2017

19th September 2017 Consumer Collections |

Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for September 2017: Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1.548 trillion at the end of July 2017. This is up from £1.489 trillion at the end of July 2016 – an extra £1033.06 per UK adult. Per adult in the UK…

Read more

Consumer finance new business grows by 13%

8th September 2017 Consumer Collections |

New figures released tby the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show growth of 13% in consumer finance new business in July, compared with the same month last year. Credit card and personal loan new business together grew by 16% compared with July 2016, while retail store and online credit new business increased by 11%. Second…

Read more

Identity Fraud escalates to new levels

23rd August 2017 Consumer Collections |

Fraud prevention service, Cifas has released new figures showing that identity fraud has continued to rise at record levels in the first six months of 2017.  A record 89,000 identity frauds were recorded, up 5% from last year. Representing over half of all fraud recorded by the UK’s not-for-profit fraud data sharing organisation, 83% of…

Read more

Consumer finance grows by 7% in June

17th August 2017 Consumer Collections |

New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show growth of 7% in consumer finance new business in June, compared with the same month last year, and growth of 4% in the second quarter of 2017 overall. Credit card and personal loan new business together grew by 10% compared with June 2016, while…

Read more

ICO fines Talk Talk over data risk breach

11th August 2017 Consumer Collections |

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined TalkTalk Telecom Group PLC £100,000 after it failed to look after its customers’ data and risked it falling into the hands of scammers and fraudsters. An ICO investigation found TalkTalk breached the Data Protection Act because it allowed staff to have access to large quantities of customers’ data. Its…

Read more

FCA announces proposals to extend the Senior Managers Regime

26th July 2017 Consumer Collections |

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published proposals to extend the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR) to almost all regulated firms. The new regime will essentially replace the Approved Persons Regime. The aim of the new regime is to reduce harm to consumers and strengthen market integrity by making individuals more accountable for their…

Read more

Card charges to be outlawed

20th July 2017 Consumer Collections |

The government has announced that  card charges will be consigned to history, after Ministers act to end these unfair fees for millions of people across the country.rules that will mean card-charging in Britain – where people can be charged 20% extra for purchases like a flight just for paying with a credit card – will come to…

Read more

New law will give Consumers more control over finance data and decisions

20th July 2017 Consumer Collections |

Consumers will have greater control over their bank data and financial decisions thanks to new laws coming into force in January. The government is bringing in a new regulatory regime for innovative FinTech firms which will transform the way people engage with their finances and make it possible to manage all of their finances at the…

Read more

Consumer finance has risen by 5% so far in 2017

7th July 2017 Consumer Collections |

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…

Read more

New toolkit helps creditors to support people who fall behind on payments

5th July 2017 Consumer Collections |

A new toolkit to bring consistency to the way creditors work with debt advice agencies when collecting repayments from people who are in debt has been launched by the Money Advice Service today. This is the first time that all major debt advice agencies and creditors have worked together to raise standards of creditor practice…

Read more

Money Statistics: June 2017

15th June 2017 Consumer Collections |

Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for June 2017: Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1.532 trillion at the end of April 2017. This is up from £1.485 trillion at the end of April 2016 – an extra £886.84 per UK adult Per adult in the UK…

Read more