Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Analysis from Freedom Finance has found that the retail store and online credit sector experienced its fastest ever start to a year in 2022 and looks set to reach further highs this year, Monthly updates from consumer finance trade body, the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA), show that new business volumes reached £2,120 million in…
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Buy now, pay later (BNPL) finance firm, Payl8r, is calling for the adoption of open banking as a legal requirement for credit assessing in the same way that credit checks are, to ensure safer lending for borrowers in the face of rising costs of living. Payl8r says open banking technology connects banks, third parties and…
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Regulation of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) credit retail products could prevent up to 876,000 consumers from getting into unmanageable debt this year, according to new research from Barclays and StepChange. The study shows that the rising cost of living is having a direct impact on the popularity of BNPL purchases – over a third…
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The Government has announced new plans for the regulation of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL). Under the new rules lenders will be required to ensure loans are affordable and rules will be amended to ensure advertisements are fair, clear and not misleading. The Government will expand rules to cover other forms of unsecured short-term credit…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a list of funeral plan providers it intends to authorise when the pre-paid funeral plans industry comes under its regulation from 29th July. 24 firms are on the list, including the largest funeral plan providers. Together these firms hold approximately 87% of existing customer plans. The FCA is…
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Guarantor loan provider, TFS Loans (in administration) has been fined £811,900 by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in relation to deficient affordability checks on 3,150 guarantors in its consumer credit business. The FCA has also imposed a requirement on TFS to redress the guarantors that were harmed by the firm not conducting appropriate checks. TFS…
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Apple has announced that it will launch its own Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) option. The iPhone maker’s Apple Pay Later service will allow users in the US to pay for purchases in four instalments over six weeks without being charged interest or other fees. The service will be available anywhere that accepts Apple Pay…
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Growth in consumer credit lending is being rapidly outpaced by the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) market according new research by Freedom Finance. Industry figures estimate that BNPL lending is likely to increase by 52% to well over £20 billion in 2022 compared to the previous year. The FCA estimates that the industry was worth £2.7…
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Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) popularity as an alternative payment option, has been highlighted by GlobalData’s latest report, revealing that the global transaction value for BNPL payments reached $120 billion in 2021, and is set to reach $576 billion by 2026. BNPL made up 2.3% of the global ecommerce market, or, in other words, for every…
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Equity release plan sales surged by 21% as the value of equity released increased by 30% as older homeowners released an average of £111,500 in property wealth in the first three months of the year, data from equity release adviser Key Later Life Finance shows. Plan sales surged by 21.4% in the first three months…
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Membership of Credit Unions has risen to an all-time high, with these financial institutions lending more money than ever as the cost-of-living crisis worsens. The Bank of England’s latest data shows that over 1.9 million people in the UK are now members of a Credit Union. Borrowing from Credit Unions is particularly common in Northern…
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Amigo Loans has been granted court approval to pay compensation to past customers’ mis-sold loans and a chance to stay in business and resume lending. The High Court approved a new scheme that will see the sub-prime lender pay a higher proportion of the value of claims to customers than previously proposed. Commenting on the…
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New research by Hargreaves Lansdown says that one in ten use Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) to pay for essentials whilst a further one in four would consider using it. The research also found that one in three people have either used Buy Now Pay Later to buy things like furniture, technology and white goods,…
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