Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
A survey by data company GfK shows that consumer confidence has unexpectedly bounced back from historic lows to hit the highest level since April 2022. GfK’s consumer confidence index has risen by seven points in February, although the headline score remains at a “severely depressed” -38. While confidence in the general economic situation over the…
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The average woman in paid employment effectively works for free for nearly two months of the year compared to the average man in paid employment, according to analysis published by the TUC. The gender pay gap for all employees currently stands at 14.9%. This pay gap means that working women must wait 54 days, nearly…
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New research by Fluro has found a surge in personal loan requests as consumers consolidate their debts.. The study reveals that the UK consumer lending market has experienced a spike in activity in January 2023, with Fluro’s data tracking the highest numbers of loans requested since the summer. The year began with just over a…
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Consumer finance new business grew by 13% through 2022 compared to the previous year according to the latest Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) data. The credit card and personal loan sectors together reported new business up by 17% in 2022 compared to 2021, despite credit card rates reaching their highest level since 1998 and continued…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that consumer finance new business fell by 4% in December 2022 compared with the same month in 2021. In 2022 as a whole, new business was 13% higher than in 2021. The credit card and personal loan sectors together reported a fall in new…
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Consumers Spent £8 billion online in January whilst the use Use of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) rose to 12% according to research by Adobe analytics The data shows that UK consumers spent £8 billion online in January, 26.7% less than in December 2022, and a year-on year decrease of 1.4%. It also identified an…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has publicly censured Amigo Loans for failing to conduct adequate affordability checks on borrowers and guarantors. The FCA says it would have imposed a fine of £72.9 million however Amigo demonstrated that this would cause it serious financial hardship. A fine would also have threatened Amigo’s ability to meet its…
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New research by Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has found that billions of pounds loaned by the ‘bank of mum and dad’ to help with property purchases and to boost the finances of newly married offspring are helping to fuel rising levels of inequality. The research found that £17 billion is gifted or loaned informally…
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Analysis of the latest Bank of England data on average quoted household rates from Freedom Finance shows a mixed picture for the cost of consumer credit products at the start of 2023. Total credit card borrowing dropped in December as consumers repaid £0.5 billion of net credit card debt and this perhaps drove a more…
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The Bank of England has increased the base rate by 50 basis points to 4%, marking the tenth consecutive increase. The bank rate has continued to increase since December 2021, when it stood at just 0.25%. Commenting on the rise Richard Lane, Director of External Affairs & Operating Subsidiaries at StepChange Debt Charity, said “The…
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Latest Bank of England (BoE) data has shown that consumers borrowed an additional £500 million in consumer credit in December, with this a steep drop on the £1.5 billion borrowed in November and below the previous six-month average of £1.2 billion. Net credit card repayments came in at £0.5 billion, while £1 billion of borrowing…
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With the Bank of England predicted to raise interest rates by 0.5 percentage points to 4% this Thursday, Credit app TotallyMoney has commissioned Moneycomms to calculate the impact of the expected interest rate hike on mortgage borrowers. The research found that For the average UK property costing £270,708 with a 75% LTV, a 0.5 percentage…
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Deloitte’s consumer confidence tracker reveals that sentiment rose in the last three months of 2022 as consumers became slightly more positive about the state of the economy with consumer confidence rising in the final quarter of 2022 improving by half (+0.6) a percentage point. Whilst small, the uptick marks the reversal of a 15-month period…
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