Second charge mortgage new business volumes up by 19% in 2019

14th February 2020 Consumer Collections |

New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that Second charge mortgage new business volumes up by 19% in 2019. Commenting on the full year 2019 new business figures for the second charge mortgage market, Fiona Hoyle, Head of Consumer and Mortgage Finance at the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA), said “The…

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Consumer finance new business grew by 1% in 2019

14th February 2020 Consumer Collections |

New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that consumer finance new business grew in December 2019 by 12% compared with the same month in 2018, driven by the timing of Black Friday and Cyber Monday retail events.  In 2019 as a whole, this market reported new business growth of 1%. Credit…

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Consumer car finance market remained steady in 2019

13th February 2020 Consumer Collections |

New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that new business volumes in the consumer car finance market grew in December 2019 by 6% compared with the same month in 2018, and held steady in 2019 as a whole at over 2.4 million cars. The consumer new car finance market reported growth…

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FLA members report record levels of new business in 2019

13th February 2020 Consumer Collections |

New figures released today by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that FLA members provided a record £140 billion of new business which helped businesses invest in new equipment and households manage purchases. 2019 saw growth across FLA markets with asset finance and consumer finance new business up by 6% and 1% respectively, compared…

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Consumer spending increases by 3.9% in January

13th February 2020 Consumer Collections |

Consumer spending grew 3.9 percent year-on-year in January, marking a distinct uplift from the low levels of growth seen in 2019. Consumers are feeling upbeat about the country’s economic prospects, with three quarters confident about their household finances. Data from Barclaycard, which sees nearly half of the nation’s credit and debit card transactions, reveals that…

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Challenger bank N26 exits UK

12th February 2020 Consumer Collections |

Challenger bank N26 has announced that it will exit from UK banking market. The banks says that with the UK having left the European Union, that it will be leaving the UK market. The timings and framework outlined in the EU Withdrawal Agreement mean that the company will in due course be unable to operate…

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Two thirds of consumers unaware of overdraft charge changes

12th February 2020 Consumer Collections |

Two-thirds of consumers (66%) of current account holders are unaware of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) changes to overdraft fees, according to new research by comparethemarket.com. The FCA has introduced new rules to make the costs of overdrafts clearer and easier to compare. But two thirds (66%) of customers have no idea these changes are…

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£600m spent on beating January blues

10th February 2020 Consumer Collections |

Debit card spend in the first two weeks of January was 3.2% higher than a year ago as consumers looked to battle the January blues. Lloyds Bank’s analysis of its own card spending data between 1st January and 14th January 2020 revealed that over £4.3 billion was spent on all goods and services by its…

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More than one in five people live in poverty

7th February 2020 Consumer Collections |

The proportion of people with a job who live in poverty went up for the third consecutive year in 2018 to a record high, with about 14 million struggling to make ends meet according to a report by Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). The report shows that rising levels of employment have failed to translate into…

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Government confirms 60-day ‘breathing space’ measures

7th February 2020 Consumer Collections |

The Treasury has published an impact assessment of its forthcoming ‘breathing space’ scheme to help people in debt by giving them 60 days free from creditor contact in which to talk over their options with a professional debt advisor. 700,000 people are expected to take part in the scheme in its first year, and 1.2…

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Rise in attempts to hide adverse credit

7th February 2020 Consumer Collections |

Latest research from Cifas, the UK’s leading fraud prevention service, has revealed that the number of people failing to disclose a previous address in an attempt to hide their adverse credit rose by just over a quarter (26%) in 2019. Adverse credit refers to a poor repayment history – usually on loans or credit cards.…

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Nationwide to refund 70,000 customers after overdraft warning failures

6th February 2020 Consumer Collections |

Nationwide is to repay customers after it failed to correctly warn them that they would be charged for entering an unarranged overdraft. The move comes after the building society was found to have broken Part 6 of the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) Retail Banking Market Investigation Order, which states that customers with personal current…

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One in three consumers would be in arrears if they lost their job

6th February 2020 Consumer Collections |

One in three (36%) people in the UK say they would be in financial arrears within a month if they were to lose their jobs tomorrow, according to new research by AA Financial Services. This figure rises to a staggering one in two (51%) amongst people who rent their homes. The findings come at a…

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