One in five Scottish consumers has an outstanding credit card balance for 6 months

5th September 2018 Consumer Collections |

One-in-five (22%) consumers in Scotland has had an outstanding credit card balance for at least six months, according to a survey by R3 in Scotland, the insolvency trade body. The research, part of a long-running survey of Britain’s personal finances by R3 and ComRes, also found that, of the 35% of Scottish adults are concerned…

Read more

FCA appoints new Director of Competition

5th September 2018 Consumer Collections |

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that it has appointed Sheldon Mills as its new director of Competition. Mills is currently senior director, mergers and state aid at the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). At the FCA, Mills will be a central figure in delivering one of the organisation’s operational objectives — to promote competition in…

Read more

12.3 million consumers have been victims of online fraud

5th September 2018 Consumer Collections |

One in four (23%) consumers have been victims of fraud when shopping online – with 8% duped more than once, according to the inaugural Shieldpay Fraud Tracker. The cost of online scams is significant. Those which were tricked whilst purchasing an item online lost £608 on average – with one in seven (14%) victims defrauded…

Read more

Londoners more likely to be in debt

5th September 2018 Consumer Collections |

Londoners are more likely to be struggling with debt than the rest of the UK despite average higher incomes. That is according to London in the Red, a new report from StepChange Debt Charity, that reveals 100,000 Londoners sought their debt advice, meaning one in six of its clients last year came from London. The…

Read more

Experian to launch “real rates” credit card service

5th September 2018 Consumer Collections |

Experian has announced that it is introducing a “real rates” service to the credit card market so consumers will now know exactly what deal they’ll be getting. In a transformative change to the way consumers shop for credit cards, those using Experian’s comparison services will see the actual rate they’ll get when shopping for cards…

Read more

Computershare announced as standby servicer for Al Rayan Bank

5th September 2018 Consumer Collections |

Computershare Loan Services has confirmed it has become the first domestic third-party administrator to act as standby servicer for a ‘Sukuk’ or Islamic Certificate issued in sterling in the UK. Al Rayan Bank recently made history with Tolkien Funding Sukuk, which is the largest that has been issued in sterling in the UK. Andrew Jones,…

Read more

TUC: Households income fallen short of spending since May became PM

5th September 2018 Consumer Collections |

The TUC has said that UK households have been pushed £1,250 into the red since Theresa May took office according to their analysis. In every quarter since Theresa May’s arrival in Downing Street (2016 Q4 to 2018 Q1), families’ outgoings have outstripped their incomes – resulting in a total deficit of £34 billion. The TUC…

Read more

Water companies share plans to cut bills in England and Wales

4th September 2018 Consumer Collections |

Water companies across England and Wales have submitted their plans to cut consumer bills. The plans were shared with Ofwat as part of their business plans for the years 2020-2025. As part of Ofwat’s 2019 price review, all water companies must set out a detailed business plan outlining how they will meet the needs of…

Read more

Almost 10% of consumers have been in debt due to household bills

4th September 2018 Consumer Collections |

Almost 10% (9.08%) of UK consumers have been in debt during their life due to the price of household bills, research conducted by Vanquis Bank has revealed. The survey of 1,311 UK consumers, conducted on 3rd August 2018, analysed the factors behind debt, taking into account household bills, rent, overspending, unemployment, medical costs and high…

Read more

Azzurro acquires dutch debt purchase business

4th September 2018 Debt Sale and Purchase |

Dutch real estate specialist Next Investments B.V. has announced the sale of its debt purchasing, collections and data businesses to UK debt purchaser Azzurro Associates for an undisclosed sum. The funding made available by this sale will be used by Next Investments to further expand the successful business activities of Solid Finance in order to…

Read more

Ascent appoints Head of Sales

4th September 2018 Consumer Collections |

Debt recovery law firm, Ascent, has appointed Robert Matthews as its Head of Sales. Based in Ascent’s offices at One St Peter’s Square in Manchester, Matthews moves from Debt Managers Services Ltd, part of Secure Trust Bank, where he was Commercial Director. Matthews’s other roles in a career spanning 30 years within the financial services…

Read more

CreditLadder and Bud announce rental payment credit scoring partnership

4th September 2018 Consumer Collections |

Rent recognition platform CreditLadder and financial network Bud have launched a  new partnership designed to help customers become more creditworthy and get on the property ladder. Bud offers a connected network that helps banks to collaborate with fintechs on creating new experiences for their customers. It’s a service that Bud has developed and piloted with HSBC/First…

Read more

LendingMetrics launches free Open Banking service

4th September 2018 Consumer Collections |

LendingMetrics has announced a new free open banking service. The company has been granted FCA permissions as a Registered Account Information Service Provider and have now officially launched the only OpenBanking service to credit providers which is free of charge. As an FCA authorised AISP the company will now be utilising the direct APIs of…

Read more