Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
A man from Suffolk has been sentenced to 4 years and 9 months at Ipswich Crown Court after stealing over £490,000 from bank customers after taking over their accounts by impersonating them. The sentencing follows investigation and arrest by specialist banking industry sponsored police unit, the Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU). Blessing Mudzinge,…
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Latest Bank of England data showed mortgage approvals for house purchases rose in July for a third consecutive month, Mortgage approvals for house purchases increased by 800 in July, to 65,400. Approvals for remortgaging decreased by 2700 in July, to 38,900. Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals decreased by £0.9 billion to £4.5 billion…
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Latest data from the Bank of England on the Credit Union sector shows that adult membership grew 33% to 2.16 million in Q1 2025, a quarterly rise of 7,076 and an increase of 43,905 compared to Q1 2024. The total value of assets held by Credit Unions rebounded slightly in 2025 Q1, increasing 0.14% to…
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The UK banking sector faces significant job losses as banks invest heavily in artificial intelligence (AI). A report from Juniper Research and Zopa Bank indicates that 27,000 roles, or 10% of the workforce, are at risk by 2030. The industry plans to invest £1.8 billion in generative AI, aiming for productivity gains primarily in back…
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Consumers are being warned of fraudsters impersonating the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as the regulator revealed it has received almost 5,000 fake FCA scam reports in the first half of 2025. Scammers aim to steal money by getting people to hand over funds or sensitive information, such as bank account PINs and passwords. There have…
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Since the financial crisis of 2008-9, 3.3 million prospective homeowners have missed out on the opportunity to own a home according to new research by leading Pepper Money. The research indicates that if pre-crash financial trends continued, then this would have enabled 3.3 million more households to geton the property ladder. The findings come in…
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High-cost lending firm Fernwood Financial has entered liquidation. Thousands of customers of the company will have had their debts wiped out following the company’s collapse. Liquidators are contacting clients to inform them of the debt write-off, and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has confirmed that customers need not make further payments and should cancel automated…
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UK banks have closed more than one in three branches over the past five years, according to an analysis report by the Financial Times. The data shows that Lloyds, NatWest, Halifax and Bank of Scotland are set to close another 113 branches before the end of November. The number of bank, building society and credit union branches…
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Waltham Forest Council Employee Credit Union (WFCECU), trading as Forest Savers, has entered administration and has now stopped trading. The credit union was founded in the 1990s and is based in Walthamstow, London and acts as a financial cooperative, offering its members financial security through saving and borrowing. Dina Devalia and Terri Mulgrew of Quantuma…
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New research from Creditspring has found that over half (53%) of people report increased spending during summer, more than at any other time of year, Based on the UK population of 69.5 million, this equates to approximately 36.8 million people increasing their spending in the summer months. That figure is even higher among younger adults,…
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Latest Office National Statistics (ONS) data has shown that private renters typically spend 36.3%, or £1,232 in monthly rent, of their income on an average-priced let home in England. This is higher than Wales and Northern Ireland, where 25.9%, or £702, and 25.3%, or £751, of pay was spent on rent last year, respectively, according to the…
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The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published its latest banking satisfaction survey, revealing that Monzo ranks first among personal current account providers in Britain and Northern Ireland. Challenger banks continue to lead the way in the latest set of banking satisfaction, while traditional banks generally scored lower than their digital rivals. Introduced by the…
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Latest credit card market data from global analytics software leader FICO shows how rising spend and falling payments to balance are continuing to push up average balances. Increased spending follows expected seasonal trends, but the percentage of balance paid continues to trend downwards, which will be a concern for lenders. The data showed that spending…
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