Fraud fears delay naming of new financial guidance body

21st July 2017 Consumer Collections |

The naming of a new financial guidance body has been delayed by the Government because of the threat posed by online fraudsters. Ministers said there was “every good reason to suspect” that setting out the title of the organisation in legislation would lead to problems with scammers “mimicking” it on “spurious” websites. As a result,…

Read more

TSB to launch iris recognition

21st July 2017 Consumer Collections |

TSB is set to introduce iris recognition to its mobile banking app – the first bank in Europe to commit to provide the technology – as the Bank’s high-tech transformation gathers pace. Customers with a Samsung Galaxy S8 or S8+ smartphone will be able, from September 2017, to unlock their TSB mobile banking app using…

Read more

Gross mortgage lending rises by 9% in June

21st July 2017 Consumer Collections |

UK Finance estimates that gross mortgage lending reached £22.1 billion in June. This is 9% higher than May’s lending total of £20.3 billion, and 3% higher than the £21.5 billion lent in June last year. Gross mortgage lending for the second quarter of 2017 was therefore an estimated £60.3 billion. This is a 3% increase on the…

Read more

Independent review of Debt Advice funding announced

20th July 2017 Consumer Collections |

It has been announced that Peter Wyman CBE is to lead an independent review of the funding of debt advice across the UK. The review will seek views from a wide range of interested parties including the debt advice sector itself and recommend an appropriate funding framework for the future. The review has been established…

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

“High-cost credit market is failing” – Stepchange

20th July 2017 Consumer Collections |

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…

Read more

£4.5 billion spent via contactless in May 2017

19th July 2017 Consumer Collections |

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…

Read more

Chief Executive to leave Ofwat

19th July 2017 Consumer Collections |

Ofwat has announced that Chief Executive, Cathryn Ross, will be leaving the regulator at the end of the year to take up a senior position in the private sector unconnected with the water industry. Ross, who was appointed as Ofwat Chief Executive in October 2013, has successfully led the regulator through a significant period of…

Read more

Mortgage sales decrease in June

19th July 2017 Consumer Collections |

Mortgage sales for the UK decreased by £200 million in June, down 1.2% on the previous month, according to Equifax Touchstone analysis of the intermediary marketplace. Buy-to-let figures bucked the general trend, rising by 3.2% (£80 million) to £2.6 billion, while residential sales contracted by 2.0% (£280 million) to £13.9 billion. Overall, mortgage sales for…

Read more

It may take ten years for Italians to fix bad debt issue

19th July 2017 Consumer Collections |

Italian banks could take 10 years to reduce their level of non-performing loans (NPLs) to the European average according to Morgan Stanley, adding that setting up a “bad bank” could help. A recession that ended in 2014 saddled Italian banks with 349 billion euros (305.94 billion pounds) in impaired debts, one-third of Europe’s total, while…

Read more

Senior industry leaders join Money Advice Trust as board trustees

19th July 2017 Consumer Collections |

The Money Advice Trust, the charity that runs National Debtline and Business Debtline, has appointed two senior industry leaders to its Board of Trustees. Lawrence Slade has served as Chief Executive Officer at Energy UK, the trade association for the UK energy industry, since July 2015.  He previously ran the Energy Retail Association and the…

Read more

MoneyPlus acquires rival debt management specialist

19th July 2017 Consumer Collections |

Debt Management specialist MoneyPlus Group has bought Baines & Ernst after it went into administration. FRP Advisory was appointed administrators of Baines & Ernst. The business and assets of Baines & Ernst were then sold, resulting in the transfer of all 80 staff and all its debt solution plans and customer data. Baines & Ernst…

Read more