Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The FCA has rejected calls to cap interest rates charged on credit cards saying that planned measures to help people avoid excessive debt should be given time to work. Speaking at Reuters Financial Regulation Summit Andrew Bailey, Chief Executive of the Financial Conduct Authority said “We are not there at the moment,” said in response…
Read moreThe Bank of England’s (BoE) Financial Policy Committee (FPC) has said that lenders are creating pockets of risk by placing too much weight on recent benign conditions. In a statement from its policy meeting on 20 September 2017, the BoE said that the overall credit quality of consumer credit has improved significantly since the financial crisis.…
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RBS has announced its plans to postpone the introduction of cut-price credit cards and the Labour Party has pledged to back legislation limiting the amount of interest that can be charged on credit card debt. Key industry groups have responded to the developments in the consumer credit landscape. Steve McNicholas, Managing Director – Credit and…
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The results of a year-long machine learning trial conducted by Callcredit Information Group point to potentially significant positive benefits in predictive accuracy across a range of established data models. The study looked at a number of different scenarios, ranging from identifying potentially fraudulent applications through to the accuracy of underwriting decisions in predicting a customer’s…
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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 moreThe Money Advice Service has announced its 2017 over-indebtedness figures for the UK. This year’s report by the Money Advice Service and CACI reveals that 8.3 million (15.9%) people in the UK are living with a debt problem – the figures show a moderate increase from figures released in 2016 (15.4%). The statistics from the…
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Callcredit Group and Totallymoney have launched a new Live Credit Score service. The service provides customers with information about changes in their credit status each time they log in. Credit file data is provided by Callcredit and customers now have access to six years’ of credit history information and receive real-time notifications to help them…
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Following on from Equifax’s announcement last week that the US arm of the company announced a cybersecurity incident. Equifax has now identified unauthorised access to limited personal information for certain UK consumers. Equifax UK has confirmed that UK systems are not affected. Equifax UK and TDX Group systems and platforms are entirely separated from those impacted…
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The number of low-income households in England and Wales receiving financial help from their water company has almost doubled to more than 400,000 in the past year, according to the Consumer Council for Water (CCWater). The water watchdog has welcomed the rise in support for cash-strapped customers but warned that it remains a drop in…
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250,000 private renting families in England are becoming burdened with serious debt because they have to move house so frequently, according to Shelter. New research from the housing charity says private renting is so unstable, short and expensive that families are being forced to move too frequently. One in four (255,944) renting families are taking…
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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…
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Twice as many UK grandparents are providing regular financial support to their adult grandchildren when compared to those children’s parents (13% vs. 7% of parents), according to new research from customer-owned financial services company, OneFamily. The OneFamily report found that most of these grandparents’ also provided this support on a no-strings attached basis (73%). This…
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As FCA affordability regulation continues to evolve, the industry is carefully considering the impact on end consumers. Affordability must be properly assessed to ensure that consumers only access products that are right for them. Checks vary in complexity depending on the product being applied for, but they largely focus on an individual’s credit history and…
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