More than 5.5m adults fell victim to identity fraud in the last 12 months

9th March 2022 Consumer Lending | #fraud

Nearly one in 10 smartphone users in the UK (9%), as many as 5.7 million people, have fallen victim to identity fraud in the last 12 months, according to research by GBG, the experts in digital identity. GBG’s State of Digital Identity Report 2022 has revealed that young adults aged 18-to-24 were hardest hit with…

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15m borrowers have a ‘poor understanding’ of how to compare loan costs

8th March 2022 Consumer Lending |

Millions of people are failing to compare lending products from at least two providers and risk not getting the best deal available to them, according to analysis of FCA data from Freedom Finance, The data shows a widespread lack of shopping around across most loan products, and a low-level understanding of terms like APR that…

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Consumer borrowing falls in January

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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Credit card fraud hit a five-year high

Latest data from the National Fraud Hunter Prevention Service, analysed by Experian, found the detected fraud rate for cards rose by 42% between October and December 2021, when compared to the previous quarter, the highest rate since 2017. Typically, an increase in fraudulent activity is detected over the festive shopping period, but 2021 proved especially…

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Bank of England considers mortgage affordability rule changes

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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TransUnion and CreditLadder agree property rental payments credit report partnership

Global information and insights company TransUnion has announced that it has partnered with CreditLadder, the rent reporting platform, to incorporate UK tenants’ rental payments into their credit information. Rental payment history of those individuals using CreditLadder can now be recorded in their TransUnion credit report, giving finance providers a more holistic view of financial standing…

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Loan comparison searches increase by 101%

24th February 2022 Consumer Lending | #consumer loans

New analysis from Experian finds that comparison searches for loans have doubled over the last year, while consumer research reveals that almost one in five consumers (18%) intend to, or already have, borrowed money in 2022. When comparing this January with the same month in 2021, loan searches increased by 101%, while loan applications increased…

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60% of BNPL customers are worried about impact on their credit score

A new survey from UK fintech Pave shows the vast majority of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) customers are unclear about the impact of BNPL on their credit scores, leading to the majority of customers to say they were worried about its impact. The research found that 78% of respondents (18-44) who have used Buy…

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Credit Reference Agency announces plans to include BNPL data on consumer credit reports

Global information and insights provider TransUnion has announced it is set to accept Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) finance into UK consumer credit files, becoming the first credit reference agency in the UK to do so. Following extensive research and product innovation, buy now, pay later finance – also known as deferred payment credit –…

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Spending and credit card balances increased over the Christmas period

10th February 2022 Consumer Lending | #credit cards

Latest data from Fico has indicated that spending and credit card balances increased over the Christmas period. The average active balance continued its strong upward trend at £1,550 in December, although it will take several more months of continuous growth to reach the £1,719 average seen in December 2019. The percentage of payments to balance…

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Consumer spending slowed in January with Plan B restriction keeping consumers at home

9th February 2022 Consumer Lending | #spend

Data collected by Barclaycard reveals that growth in spending on debit and credit cards slowed in January as Plan B restrictions kept consumers at home. The analysis showed that spending increased by 7.4% in January compared with pre-pandemic levels in January 2020, the lowest level of growth since April 2021. Fuel spending rose by 6.7%,…

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Incomplete data means 5 million are needlessly ‘financially excluded’

More than 5 million adults are unnecessarily financially excluded, meaning they could potentially struggle to access affordable and fair financial services and the most affordable home energy and broadband deals, according to research conducted by LexisNexis Risk Solutions. The report found that 1 in 7 adults in the UK (c.7.1 million people) fall into the…

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Klarna to launch card

28th January 2022 Company News | #Buy now pay later

Global banking, payments and shopping service, Klarna has announced the launch of Klarna Card in the UK, which it says will give consumers with greater control, transparency and choice over how they pay. The new physical card will bring Klarna’s flexible and transparent payments experience to in-store payments anywhere where cards are accepted. The launch…

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