Second Charge mortgage arrears fall to record low

8th February 2018 Consumer Collections |

New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that the number of second charge mortgage repossessions in 2017 was 105, 27% lower than in 2016. In the final quarter of 2017, the number of repossessions was 27, down by almost 31% compared with the same period in 2016. The rate of second…

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Toyota Financial Services launches credit assessment partnership with Aire

8th February 2018 Consumer Collections |

Aire, which provides an alternative way for lenders to understand and score credit applicants, today announces that it is launching an evaluation with Toyota Financial Services (TFS) for its Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform. The collaboration is designed to prove the effectiveness of Aire’s technology to assess the financial situation of TFS customers within ‘customer delinquency’.…

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Millions struggling with mountain of credit card debt

8th February 2018 Consumer Collections |

British consumers are increasingly struggling to cope under an ever-growing mountain of credit card debt, according to new research by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) think-tank. Using data from the Financial Conduct Authority, R3 and its own modelling, NEF finds that credit card debt is increasingly becoming as unmanageable as payday lending debt was for…

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Irish Director General outlines Central Bank priorities

7th February 2018 Consumer Collections |

The Central Bank of Ireland’s Director General, Financial Conduct today set out her priorities for the recently created financial conduct pillar of the Central Bank. Speaking in UCD, Derville Rowland highlighted the vital importance of trust and confidence in financial services and the system of regulation, and added that the accountability of senior personnel in…

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Debt used as a way to maintain spending power

6th February 2018 Consumer Collections |

New data research by onefourzero and GK analysing the credit market has found that consumers now use debt to maintain their spend power. The report analysed demand data for credit cards and overdrafts, and found that reliance on consumer credit has become the new normal; British consumers are borrowing more now than ever before. What was…

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CMA banking overdraft alert rule begins

2nd February 2018 Consumer Collections |

Today marks the start of a UK rule change required by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) as part of its Retail Banking Investigation which means that banks must now set up an alert system which will help their customers avoid unnecessary charges. During an investigation, the CMA found that banks receive around £1.2 billion a…

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FCA publishes update on high-cost credit

31st January 2018 Consumer Collections |

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published an update on its work in the high-cost credit sector. The update follows a Feedback Statement the FCA published in July 2017 which identified key areas of concern with the sector including overdrafts, rent-to-own, home-collected credit and catalogue credit. Work undertaken since July 2017 has demonstrated an emerging…

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Fraud professionals under pressure to reduce risk thresholds

30th January 2018 Consumer Collections |

  Over half (62%) of fraud managers are under pressure to increase transactions and customer sign-ups by reducing risk thresholds for ID verification, according to Callcredit Information Group’s research. Unsurprisingly, the research found that 64% of respondents feel it is difficult to balance the business need to onboard and service customers quickly with the need…

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‘Challenging times’ for households consumer credit grows by 9.5%

30th January 2018 Consumer Collections |

The Bank of England has today published its latest monthly Money and Credit report showing growth in consumer credit of 9.5 percent in the year to December 2017 up from 9.3 percent in November. Outstanding balances for consumer credit now stand at over £207.1 billion .The 8.9% growth in credit card lending has pushed the…

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FCA urges Lenders to do more to solve interest-only mortgage problem

30th January 2018 Consumer Collections |

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has asked lenders to do more to tackle the issue of maturing interest-only mortgages with the FCA finding that many people have still not talked to their lender about their repayment options. Nearly one in five mortgage customers have an interest-only mortgage and the FCA is concerned that shortfalls in…

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Irish Central Bank urges credit unions to invest in technology

30th January 2018 Consumer Collections |

Irish Credit unions need to invest in new technologies in order to compete with challenging new entrants to the market, according to the Central Bank. Speaking at thethe annual conference of the Credit Union Development Association. Patrick Casey, the regulator’s registrar of credit union said “Today, the traditional business models of all financial institutions are…

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Leek United Building Society makes two senior appointments

29th January 2018 Consumer Collections |

Leek United Building Society has made two new senior appointments announcements. Andrew Davies joins as the new Head of Risk and Compliance from the Co-operative Bank, where he was Lead Treasury Risk Manager. He brings to his new role at Leek United more than 30 years’ experience in the financial services industry, which began in…

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Mortgage lending drops to lowest level in five years

26th January 2018 Consumer Collections |

UK Finance has published the latest mortgage lending figures. Key data highlights from the report include: Mortgage activity has been building through the year, helped by increasing numbers of first-time buyers. Gross mortgage lending in the month is estimated to have been £20.2 billion, 1.2 percent more than a year earlier. Credit card spending decreased slightly…

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