Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The impact of surging property prices throughout the pandemic has reduced housing affordability to the lowest level on record, according to new research by Halifax. The analysis – based on data from the Halifax House Price Index – compared typical house prices to average earnings across the UK. In the first quarter of 2022, the…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is using state-of-the-art analytics to scan 100,000 websites a day in a crackdown on scams and fraud. Although the watchdog cannot remove fraudulent sites, it has added almost 2,000 possible scams to its consumer warning list since May 2021- up a third more than during the same time the previous…
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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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Half (48%) the UK public think a key reason more young adults today cannot afford to buy their own home is they spend too much of their income on things like takeaway coffees and food, mobile phones, subscription services like Netflix and holidays abroad, according to a new study by the King’s College. In reality,…
Read moreNew research by Marqeta has indicated that many consumers are frustrated with lending experience and want less jargon and more clarity, with 80% believing that lenders try to obscure the final cost of a loan. The findings part of Marqeta’s new report “Seeking out the alternatives: how consumers are engaging with the lending 3.0 landscape”…
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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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Credit card spending and personal loan borrowing both increased in the first quarter of 2022, returning to pre-Covid trends as the last restrictions were ended according to new analysis by UK Finance. Total credit card spending was £50.4 billion, with March seeing the second highest spending since the pandemic. There was a significant increase in…
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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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Latest Bank of England data has indicated that credit card borrowing is rising at its fastest annual rate in 17 years. The annual growth rate for credit card borrowing hit 11.6% in April – the highest figure since November 2005. The figures also reveal that the rate for all consumer credit increased to 5.7% in…
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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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New figures from the Building Societies Association (BSA) have indicated that mortgage lending by building societies in the first three months of this year was on a par with lending in the same period last year when the Stamp Duty holiday was in operation. Both lending and approvals were higher in January-March 2022 than they…
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New research by UK Finance has found that the stock of outstanding interest-only mortgages fell by 15 per cent in 2021, compared with the position at the end of 2020. The concerted industry strategy to manage down the size and risk profile of the interest-only book has seen it reduce by over two thirds since…
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Consumer confidence has dipped to a record low, with GFK’s confidence index dropping two points to -40 in May, with this a point lower than the previous record of -39 set in July 2008. The statistics indicate that consumer confidence is at its lowest point since records began in 1974. Joe Staton, Client Strategy Director,…
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