Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Equifax has unveiled a new toolset of creditworthiness and affordability indicators. The indicators incorporate borrower current account turnover data to help lenders make informed, responsible lending decisions through enhanced understanding of a customer’s financial background and estimated income level. The combined insight on a borrower’s income, outstanding debt and credit usage will provide lenders with a…
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The British Bankers Association (BBA) latest high street banking data shows that consumer credit growth was 6.4% in April, compared with 6.1% in the previous month. Gross mortgage borrowing totalled £13.4 billion in April.* Net mortgage borrowing was 2.4% higher than a year ago. Eric Leenders, BBA Managing Director for Retail Banking said “As the…
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The TUC has published a new analysis of household debt, which finds that unsecured debt per household will reach a record high of £13,900 this year. Unsecured debt per household was £13,200 in 2016 – the highest figure since the financial crisis, and only marginally below the peak of £13,300 in 2007. The TUC analysis…
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Equifax and Castlight have formed an alliance with Oakbrook Finance, the owners of consumer loan brand Likely Loans, to develop new products for the 2018 Open Banking initiative. Under Open Banking, bank transaction data will play a crucial role in lending decisions. Lenders will have access to real-time and historic account and transaction information, boosting…
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The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has released its latest member data and shows that the number of outstanding residential interest-only loans has been falling by between 10 and 13 per cent a year since 2012. In the CML survey covers well over 90% of all residential mortgages outstanding, reflecting the industry’s ongoing commitment to…
Read moreThe Bank of England’s latest money and credit statistics have revealed that mortgage approvals have fallen to a six month low. The statistics also show an increase in consumer debts such as credit cards and loans. The Bank of England’s figures for March 2017 show consumer credit increased by 10.2% in the year to March, to…
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A study, by the International Longevity Centre-UK (ILC-UK), supported by the Building Societies Association (BSA) has found that borrowing into older age is likely to move from niche to mainstream within the next decade. The amount of mortgage debt held by over 65s is set to increase by more than £19 billion by 2030 (from…
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Someone taking out a personal loan pays on average twice the advertised APR according to the analysis of loan interest rates by The Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) on behalf of Saga Money. The average loan APR available on the High Street is 3.5%, but Bank of England data shows that effective interest…
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The Money Charity has released statistics which show that it would now take 30 years to save for a deposit for a home. Releasing their latest Money Statistics the report finds that historically low saving rates and negligible returns on deposits make home ownership an ever more distant dream for many. If someone on the average…
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Online research from Equifax has revealed that a significant portion of social media users risk identity theft by giving fraudsters easy access to personal information. The online survey conducted by YouGov found that almost one-third (30%) of British adults with a social media account include their full name and date of birth on their profile…
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With the implementation date just over a year away, there is still a lot of conjecture surrounding the impending General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), particularly around its appropriateness and applicability once the UK leaves the EU. One thing that is clear, however, is that now is the time for any firm handling personal data to…
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Oakam has enhanced its mobile app with the launch of Oakam Grow, a new feature that uses gamification to make consumer finance more engaging, rewarding and inclusive. Oakam Grow builds on the UK-based consumer lender’s application of behavioural science to encourage the development of positive credit habits, and supports its strategy to bring digital disruption to the largely analogue micro-credit…
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More than three million people have been frozen out of credit in the past 12 months, despite mainstream lenders promising to increase access, according to new research. Almost one in five people who applied for credit in the last 12 months – either a credit card, personal loan or mortgage – had their applications refused,…
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