Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
With a fortnight to go until the UK is due to leave the European Union, the proportion of consumers who think their finances will improve after Brexit rose by 5 percentage points in the last quarter, from 6 per cent in August 2019 to 11 per cent of the population in the days following the…
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UK cardholders spent £51 billion on debit cards in October 2019, up two per cent on the same month the previous year, according to UK Finance’s latest Card Spending Update. There were 1.6 billion transactions on debit cards in October 2019, 9.3 per cent more than in October 2018. This reflected a total spend of…
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One in three consumers expects to retire with an average debt of £17,460 this year according to new research by Key. The research has found that the debt will take three-and-a-half years to clear. Initial findings from this work suggest that the ‘Retirement Class of 2020’ faces significant debt challenges with more than one in…
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Latest data from UK Finance has shown an increase in remortgaging in November 2019. The figures show that there were 18,610 new remortgages with additional borrowing in November 2019, 5.7 per cent more than in the same month in 2018. For these remortgages, the average additional amount borrowed in November was £51,470. There were 18,470…
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Santander has become the latest bank to introduce a single debit interest rate (EAR) of 39.9% for arranged overdraft borrowing – customers will pay 9p per day per £100 borrowed, in addition, all unarranged overdraft charges and paid / unpaid item fees will be removed meaning that 86% (six out of seven) of Santander customers…
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Paragon has appointed Richard Rowntree as Managing Director of Mortgages to spearhead growth across its mortgage businesses. Rowntree joins from the Bank of Ireland, where he was Managing Director of UK Mortgages and will be responsible for Paragon’s lending activities across buy-to-let, second charge and residential mortgages. Rowntree takes over from John Heron, who retired this…
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Low-income households have seen the fastest rise in the use of consumer debt since the financial crisis, and are too exposed to financial shocks, according to new research published by the Resolution Foundation. The ‘An outstanding balance?’report explores changes in the use of consumer debt – including credit cards, store cards, mail order and hire…
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New data from Barclaycard, which sees nearly half of the nation’s credit and debit card transactions, has revealed that spending on essentials declined 0.9 per cent in December, with supermarkets contracting by 0.9 per cent compared with December 2018. Petrol expenditure also fell by 0.5 per cent. Many retailers also continued to see contractions in…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is proposing to reform the easy access cash savings market. Under new rules all firms will have to set a single easy access rate (SEAR) across all easy access accounts. Firms will have flexibility to offer multiple introductory rates for up to 12 months, then they will need to choose…
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New statistics from Comparethemarket.com have revealed the financial consequences of ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ schemes. The survey of over 2,000 UK adults indicates that over two million UK adults who have used ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ schemes (BNPL) have had their credit scores damaged by using these payment schemes, as national levels of consumer debt continue…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England (Bank) have outlined their plans to develop their data and analytics capabilities. Both authorities depend on access to high-quality data to fulfil their respective missions of maintaining monetary and financial stability, market integrity, effective competition and consumer protection. The FCA’s refreshed Data Strategy sets out a transformation…
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The Government has welcomed an independent review that recommends changes to the Loan Charge, while also confirming that it was a ‘necessary’ response to the tax avoidance schemes it was designed to tackle. The Review, led by Sir Amyas Morse, was commissioned to look at the impact of the charge, which was introduced to tackle…
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Credit card debts have fallen for first time since July 2013 according the latest Bank of England Money and Credit Banking statistics. The latest figures show that borrowers repaid £100 million in November, reflecting falling demand for consumer lending. The annual growth rate in unsecured consumer lending dropped to 5.7% from 6.1% in October, as…
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