Credit, collections & insolvency news
The Financial Policy Committee (FPC) has confirmed that it will withdraw its affordability test Recommendation. The change will come into effect from 1st August 2022. Introduced in 2014 the test specifies a stress interest rate for lenders when assessing prospective borrowers’ ability to repay a mortgage. The other Recommendation, the loan to income (LTI) ‘flow…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that consumer finance new business grew by 21% in April 2022 compared with the same month in 2021. In the first four months of 2022, new business was 30% higher than in the same period in 2021. The credit card and personal loan sectors…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is warning lenders and brokers to stop using misleading terms in their advertising or face regulatory action. The FCA says that the increased cost of living means that more people may take out loans. Marketing that does not give clear information and warnings about the potential consequences of borrowing puts…
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Motor finance applications, including Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) and Hire Purchase (HP), rose by 13% month-on-month in March as the new ‘22’ plate launched, marking the highest rate in March since 2019, according to new research by Experian. Experian says that car deal searches have returned high levels of car finance applications following a turbulent…
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Latest figures from the Bank of England (BoE) has indicated that consumers borrowed a net £1.5 billion on credit cards in February, the highest monthly amount since records began in 1993. The figures showed that lending to consumers rose by the most in nearly five years in February, jumping 90% compared to January. Consumer credit…
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The government must do more to recover taxes that went unpaid during the pandemic, a group of MPs has said. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) says the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the nature and scale of tax debt creating an enormous task for HMRC to bring tax debt back from the current mountain of £39…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that consumer finance new business grew by 51% in January 2022 compared with the same month in 2021. In the twelve months to January 2022, new business grew by 23% compared with the same period in 2021. The credit card and personal loan sectors…
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Latest Bank of England (BOE) data shows that borrowing declined in January, with borrowing using credit cards, personal loans and overdrafts totalling around £600m compared to £800m in December. This was split between £100m of additional borrowing on credit cards, and £500m in borrowing in other forms of consumer credit (such as car dealership finance…
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Rules introduced in 2014 by the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) to restrict the amount mortgage applicants could borrow may be reversed following a review by the Bank of England (BoE). Since 2014, Banks have had a limit on the number of mortgages they can offer where someone is borrowing more than 4.5 times their salary.…
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Evolution Funding, the motor finance broker and technology provider, has appointed Katie Hayes to the board as its Chief Operating Officer. Bringing over 22 years’ experience in the sector, Hayes joins Evolution from Lloyds Banking Group, where she was a member of the senior leadership team within the motor finance division. Positions held include Head…
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TotallyMoney has announced its API integration with Zuto to enable more personalised car financing options. TotallyMoney says that it’s API integration with Zuto offers customers personalised quotes, meaning greater transparency while removing surprises. Its customers will be shown guaranteed rates prior to application so they know what they’re getting before they apply. In addition to…
Read moreA new report from Juniper Research has found that global contactless card transaction values will reach $2.5 trillion in 2021, from $1.7 trillion in 2020, with cards retaining the majority share of overall contactless transaction values at 79% in 2021. The pandemic has significantly accelerated an existing contactless card usage trend, and these value increases…
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Starling Bank has agreed to a £50 million deal to acquire for buy-to-let mortgage group Fleet Mortgages. The deal is the first acquisition by the Goldman Sachs-backed start-up that is targeting an initial public offering within two years. Fleet Mortgages, based in Hampshire, focuses on providing mortgages to professional and semi-professional buy-to-let landlords, only via…
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