Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Research carried out by financial advice website Moneycomms.co.uk and supported by credit experts TotallyMoney has revealed that credit card cash withdrawals cost UK consumers £219 million in fees and interest last year. In the 12-month period, there were more than 36 million credit card cash transactions. The average amount withdrawn or spent was £125. Every time a…
Read more
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has reaffirmed the regulator’s focus on affordability, business models and culture in the consumer credit sector. Speaking in London this week, Jonathan Davidson, executive director of supervision – retail and authorisations at the FCA, noted that growth in the sector has slowed, increasing 6.5% over the last 12 months, according…
Read more
New research by UK Finance has found that a total of £1.66 billion of unauthorised fraud was prevented by the banking and finance industry in 2018, effectively stopping £2 in every £3 of attempted unauthorised fraud, During the same period, a total of £1.20 billion was stolen by criminals committing both authorised and unauthorised fraud.…
Read more
The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Banking Authority to share information and co-operate if there is a no-deal Brexit. The template sets out the expectations for supervisory cooperation and information-sharing arrangements between UK and EU/EEA national authorities. Following agreement on the…
Read more
A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) has found that the four main regulators – Ofwat, Ofgem, Ofcom and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – understand the significant difficulties facing consumers across utilities, communications and financial services markets, but cannot prove if they are effectively responding to consumer concerns or offering enough protection for…
Read more
Cifas, the UK’s leading fraud prevention service with over 450 members, has released new figures showing a marked increase in the number of individuals committing insurance fraud with false claims. Between 2017 and 2018, there has been a nationwide increase of 27% in fraudulent insurance claims. The new figures reveal that Cifas members identified household…
Read more
HM Treasury-backed rent reporting service CreditLadder and the Nationwide Building Society, have joined forces to help first-time buyers move on to the property ladder. The relationship enables would-be homeowners to be prompted if they are eligible to apply for a Nationwide mortgage. Users will then be directed to discuss potential options with Nationwide’s mortgage consultants…
Read more
A high number of consumers don’t know how to manage their finances in a responsible manner, according to research. A survey of 1,000 UK adults, carried out by personal insolvency practice Creditfix, found that only 34% of consumers admit they feel ‘in control’ of their finances. An overwhelming number (57%) said they couldn’t even confirm…
Read more
The UK’s wealthy high net-worth individuals (HNW) individuals are struggling to secure credit from high street banks, new research from Butterfield Mortgages has revealed. Butterfield Mortgages has commissioned an independent survey among more than 500 high net-worth individuals to uncover the difficulties they face when applying for credit. It found: A ninth (12%) of the HNWs…
Read more
Contactless transactions have risen 31 percent year-on-year in 2018, to latest data from banking trade body UK Finance. The current payment limit with a contactless card is £30, more than which a Pin must be used. But an increase in usage throughout 2018 is expected to lead to an increase in that maximum, although those…
Read more
Provident Financial has published its full-year company (ending 31st December 2018) results which indicate that adjusted pre-tax profits increased, up 82% to £153.5m in 2018. Malcolm Le May, Provident’s group chief executive, said “Today’s results are testament to the immense progress that the Group has made over the past 18 months, having delivered adjusted profit…
Read more
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined The Carphone Warehouse £29,107,600 for failings that led to the mis-selling of “Geek Squad” a mobile phone insurance and technical support product. This follows an FCA investigation which stemmed from whistleblowing reports. The FCA found The Carphone Warehouse failed to give its sales consultants the right training to…
Read more
New research from Experian has identified 5.8 million people in the UK who are virtually invisible to the credit economy because there is little or no information available on their financial track record. In the absence of sufficient information to make a decision, these Invisibles can either be excluded from mainstream financial services or be…
Read more