FCA’s new Consumer Duty aims to drive a shift in industry mindset

7th December 2021 Consumer Lending | #regulation

New plans from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will aim to ensure a higher and more consistent standard of consumer protection for users of financial services and help to stop harm before it happens. The FCA is concerned that currently, financial services do not always work well for consumers. The new plans will fundamentally shift…

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Research finds Gen Z credit card usage is widespread

1st December 2021 Consumer Lending | #credit cards

New research by MoneySuperMarket finds Gen Z are some of Britain’s savviest credit card users, confidently using them as a tool to manage spending and reach long-term personal finance goals. Despite being a form of payment thought to be declining in popularity among young adults, well over half (59%) of 18–24-year-olds own one. Moneysupermarket said ,…

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Finance firms prioritising payments and customer experience with open banking spending growth

1st December 2021 Consumer Lending | #open banking

New research published by open banking platform Tink has revealed an increase in spending among Europe’s financial executives, with 47% saying their open banking budgets have risen in 2021. This follows a challenging year in 2020, where financial institutions battled budget restrictions against the race to serve more customers digitally. The research, based on 308…

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Later life mortgage lending falls by 7%

29th November 2021 Consumer Lending |

Latest figures from UK Finance have shown that new later life mortgages dropped 7% in Quarter (Q3) 2021. The figures showed that there were 44,130 new later life mortgages in Q3 2021, with total lending in the quarter of £6.46 billion. This represents a 7% decrease in mortgage volumes compared with Q2 2021, but a…

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Money Statistics: November 2021

Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for November 2021 Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1,749.2 billion at the end of September 2021. The average total debt per household, including mortgages, was £62,938 and per adult was £33,072, around 108.6% of average earnings. Net mortgage lending rose by…

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Experian launches lending verification service

29th November 2021 Consumer Lending |

Consumers will be able to get access to better financial products and services, as Experian launches a new service to help lenders provide even faster, more accurate and bespoke lending decisions. Work Report™ is the first digital verification service that will allow consumers to consent to digitally share their payroll information with another organisation. It…

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Building Societies report growth in mortgage lending

26th November 2021 Consumer Lending |

Latest figures released Building Societies Association (BSA) for Q3 2021 have shown continued momentum in the housing market, with gross lending by building societies up 22% compared to the same period in 2020. The figures indicated that gross lending in Q3 2021 was £16.9 billion, up 22% on the same period last year (Q3 2020:…

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Near-prime consumers hit hard as borrowing costs rise

New research by Credit Karma has found that near-prime consumers have been hit hardest as borrowing costs rise. The research findings show that near-prime borrowers pay £39,000 more interest over a lifetime than prime with the gap increasing by 10% (£3,400) over the last 12 months. Credit Karma’s report annually quantifies the lifetime cost of borrowing…

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Use of BNPL hits all-time high, as shoppers look to spread the cost of festive period

25th November 2021 Alternative Consumer Lending | #BNPL

More than a quarter (28%) of UK shoppers are now regularly using Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services to spread the cost of purchases, and thousands more will be doing so for the first time as the festive season approaches according to new data from Equifax. The research has revealed just how much of consumers…

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PSR sets out plans for mandatory reimbursements for APP scams

Individuals who have been tricked into transferring money to a fraudster are set to be entitled to reimbursements under new plans by the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR). The PSR is also calling for the biggest banks to publish their performance data in relation to authorised push payment (APP) scams. The PSR is consulting on proposals…

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Businesses predict strong festive trading period as payments volumes rise

British SMEs are starting to feel more confident about the performance and resilience of their own businesses, despite challenges in the wider economy, according to the latest quarterly Barclaycard Payments SME Barometer. Over half (54 per cent) of UK SMEs are expecting revenues to increase in Q4, compared with performance in Q3 2021. Yet concerns…

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Finance leaders focus on cloud computing and SaaS

16th November 2021 Consumer Lending | #technology

Almost half (41%) of finance leaders say they are focusing on cloud computing and Software as-a-Service (SaaS) in 2022, as many are still working towards supporting remote teams, a new survey has found. Cybersecurity (31%) was second on the tech wish-list, followed by Big Data analytics (22%) and Artificial Intelligence (13%). The research, commissioned by…

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Banks urged to support fraud victims more fairly and consistently

12th November 2021 Consumer Lending | #fraud

An investigation by consumer group Which? has found that banks are getting decisions about certain customer scams and reimbursement wrong in the majority of cases. The research has analysed which banks are most often found to be treating authorised fraud victims unfairly, with some firms getting decisions over scams and reimbursement wrong in nearly nine…

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