Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has outlined new rules to make authorised financial firms more responsible for their appointed representatives (ARs). ARs are not authorised by the FCA – they can offer certain financial services or products under the responsibility of authorised firms (known as principals). Principal firms are responsible for ensuring their ARs comply with…
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Latest quarterly figures from the Equity Release Council have found equity release lending reached a new quarterly high of £1.6 billion in Q2. The rise is the fourth consecutive quarterly period to close with record lending eith the total amount released in the first six months of 2022 surpassing £3.1 billon, a 36 per cent…
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New research from Aviva suggests there is a growing tendency among older consumers to use the wealth held in their property to help younger generations become first time buyers. The research found that homeowners, particularly those who are mortgage-free, are planning to use investments, as well as their property, to help other family members move…
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890,000 young people aged 18-24 have fallen victim to identity fraud according to research by GBG. The research found that 18% of young adults in the UK, almost a fifth of 18-24-year-olds said they have personally been a victim of identity fraud in the last 12 months compared to just 3% of adults aged 55…
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Buckinghamshire Building Society has announced that it has appointed Dan Wass as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Wass will start in his new role at the Society in September 2022 following Gerard O’Keeffe’s decision to retire later this year. Wass was most recently as Director of Member Propositions, Banking, Insurance & Investments at Nationwide…
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Smart Money People has announced the finalists of their Consumer Credit Awards 2022 after 10 weeks of voting by consumers for their favourite credit providers. Smart Money People says that over 25,000 votes have already been cast in the awards this year, with voting for the finalist firms remaining open until 15th August 2022 and…
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Half of consumers have cut back spending to cope with the cost of living crisis, although financial resilience appears robust, according to figures revealed in TransUnion’s latest Consumer Pulse study. Over 50% of consumers surveyed indicated they’d reduced their expenditure in the last three months and intend to decrease it further as the year progresses. Whilst all spend…
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The Financial Counduct Authority (FCA) has issued a Decision Notice to One Life Funeral Planning Ltd (One Life) refusing the firm’s application for authorisation. One Life could not demonstrate that it was able to meet or comply with the FCA’s regulatory standards. The concerns included the firm having poor sales practices. One Life has until 31 October…
Read moreVirgin Money has announced plans to enter the new buy now, pay later (BNPL) market later this year with a credit card product called Slyce. Virgin Money says that the product gives customers the flexibility to buy now, pay better, as customers can use Slyce for all their buy now, pay later spending (consolidating it all…
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The Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) has rebuked the digital bank Monzo for failing to provide thousands of customers who were closing accounts with copies of their transaction histories. The CMA found that Monzo breached the Retail Banking Market Investigation Order between May 2021 and March 2022. The Order sets out that every customer must receive copies…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has confirmed its plans to bring in a new Consumer Duty, which it says will fundamentally improve how firms serve consumers and also will set higher and clearer standards of consumer protection across financial services, requiring firms to put their customers’ needs first. The Duty is made up of an…
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Specialist lender Together has announced that it is growing its team across the country, with a series of new senior appointments. Danielle Potter, Pall Thorarinsson and Jamie Grimshaw will join the company as Business Development Directors, bolstering the group’s regional teams and increasing its footprint across the UK. All three will report to Sean Williams,…
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Almost half (45 per cent) of finance and banking firms are failing to carry out crucial ‘ghost-buster’ checks on new business clients, newly released data from SmartSearch has shown. ‘Ghost’ firms are false entities created as part of a corporate infrastructure to hide the connection of a criminal beneficiary. They are often used by sophisticated…
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