Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Customers facing temporary financial difficulties due to the coronavirus have been granted almost 1.5 million payment holidays by lenders on their credit cards and personal loans according to latest figures from UK Finance. As of 21st May, 877,800 customer accounts had been given a payment freeze on their credit card. This is an increase of…
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New research from Comparethemarket.com has found that 75% of households have managed to save £300 during lockdown, but the long-term financial impact of pandemic remains a worry. The research has found that households’ financial confidence, with signs that the UK may have moved past its peak in financial anxiety for the short-term. According to the…
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The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) is urging the government to assess the impact of post-financial crisis regulatory changes and consider easing these restrictions to help first time homebuyers lead the economic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a new report from the trade body (First time buyers: is the growth sustainable?), IMLA suggests current…
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RBS will repay around £2.2 million in charges and interest to approximately 36,000 customers who went into or attempted to go into unarranged overdraft without first sending an alert to them. The bank failed to send accurate text warnings to customers, from February 2018 until December 2019, and has now agreed to fully repay the…
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New research from Citizens Advice has shown that four in ten (41%) of those in the shielded group have lost at least 20% of their income since the coronavirus outbreak began. More than a quarter (27%) have lost 60% of their income or more. The charity has supported thousands of workers with underlying health conditions,…
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Young people are relying on non-traditional forms of credit, such as Buy Now Pay Later schemes (BNPL), to cover their finances during lockdown as a result of COVID-19. New research from comparethemarket.com reveals that nearly a quarter (23%) of 18-24 year-olds are more likely to use BNPL to fund purchases since the government lockdown. While…
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Essential spend in April fell by 6% compared to last year, as the country spent its first full month in lockdown, data from Lloyds Bank has shown. Heeding the Government’s ‘Stay at Home’ message, the overall dip in essential spend in April was driven by a drop in money spent on travel. The amount usually…
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Nationwide Building Society has pledged to suspend repossessions of borrower’s homes for the next 12 months as part of a packet of measures to support customers. Nationwide says it will offer borrowers flexibility around repayments, which may include temporarily moving onto interest-only. The lender has announced a five-point support package designed to help protect the homes…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched a consultation on additional guidance for payments firms to strengthen the way in which they look after customers’ money. The payments sector is a priority area for the FCA and the consultation follows ongoing work to ensure payments firms are adequately protecting customer funds. The guidance is part…
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Latest figures from UK Finance show 1.82 million mortgage payment holidays have been issued as of 20th May 2020 – equivalent to one in six mortgages issued by lenders. UK Finance says Lenders have welcome the FCA’s draft guidance consultation published today, and the PRA’s related publication, on the next steps for those borrowers already on…
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Homeowners struggling to pay their mortgage due to Coronavirus will be able to extend their mortgage payment holiday for a further three months, or start making reduced payments, in proposals published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA has published new draft guidance today for lenders which will set out the expectations for firms…
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Credit Kudos has been announced as one of the key Fintechs working together with PwC to build the digital banking ecosystem sandbox platform – a PwC project to demonstrate the ease of shifting a legacy bank model to a partnership banking model. PwC has brought together a number of cloud-based platforms using SaaS APIs ,…
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UK cardholders spent £52.9 billion on debit cards in February 2020, up 4.1 per cent on the same month the previous year, UK Finance’s latest Card Spending Update has revealed. Total spending on credit cards amounted to £15.7 billion, 4.4 per cent more than in the same period a year earlier. The annual growth rate…
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