Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
New research by Credit Karma has found that near-prime consumers have been hit hardest as borrowing costs rise. The research findings show that near-prime borrowers pay £39,000 more interest over a lifetime than prime with the gap increasing by 10% (£3,400) over the last 12 months. Credit Karma’s report annually quantifies the lifetime cost of borrowing…
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New research has found that the number of people with debt has increased by ten percentage points in just six months (64% to 74%), with variable workers, which includes gig workers and freelancers likely to be acutely impacted, alongside young people aged between 18 and 34, according to the latest findings from Credit Kudos’ Borrowing…
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More than a quarter (28%) of UK shoppers are now regularly using Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services to spread the cost of purchases, and thousands more will be doing so for the first time as the festive season approaches according to new data from Equifax. The research has revealed just how much of consumers…
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New research by Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) platform, Butter, has revealed how the emergence of the BNPL sector has already led to a decline in credit card transactions, as more and more consumers opt for this modern method of payment. The research shows that the BNPL space has expanded dramatically in a very short…
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Almost half (41%) of finance leaders say they are focusing on cloud computing and Software as-a-Service (SaaS) in 2022, as many are still working towards supporting remote teams, a new survey has found. Cybersecurity (31%) was second on the tech wish-list, followed by Big Data analytics (22%) and Artificial Intelligence (13%). The research, commissioned by…
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The equity release market is on course for a record year after customers took out £1.049 billion in property wealth in the three months to the end of September according to data from the UK’s equity release adviser Key. The total value of equity released rose by 18.8% from nearly £884 million in the third…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that consumer finance new business grew by 1% in September 2021 compared with the same month in 2020. In the nine months to September 2021, new business was 13% higher than in the same period in 2020. The credit card and personal loan sectors…
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The winners of the 2021 Credit & Collection Technology Awards have been announced following a live in-person event yesterday (Thursday 4th November) at the Midland Hotel in Manchester. The awards are the flagship event for innovational technological professionals working in credit and collections and the fifth annual event honoured the UK’s technological innovators, celebrating outstanding…
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Consumers using credit to buy their insurance cover are increasing the amount they borrow in response to rising premiums and a growing squeeze on household finances, new research from Premium Credit has shown. The study found that over the past year, nearly seven out of 10 (69%) people used some form of credit to pay…
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The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is to review offers made by firms to their clients in early settlement cases. FOS that in light of concerns that taking a more neutral stance could jeopardise fairness and consistent outcomes it had proposed to present proactive offers from businesses ‘neutrally’ to customers, essentially making clear that in putting…
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Latest Bank of England data has shown that individuals borrowed £9.5 billion of mortgage debt on net in September, the highest since June 2021. This was a rise from £4.4bn in August, and the highest figure since June 2021, when net borrowing reached a record of £17.1bn. Consumers borrowed an additional £0.2 billion in consumer…
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An estimated 7.7 million consumers have significant outstanding balances with buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) companies, as consumers continue to be drawn in by unregulated, interest-free borrowing according to research by Credit Karma. The research has indicated that BNPL has continued growing, despite concern amongst industry experts and government, with research indicating providers have acquired another 1.6…
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Homeowners are set to access more than £4 billion of property wealth this year via equity release for the first time on record according to latest figures from the Equity Release Council. Latest analysis from the Council found that over-55 homeowners unlocked £1.15 billion of property wealth via equity release during Q3 2021, down 2%…
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