Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has proposed new regulations for Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) providers, requiring them to ensure that borrowers can afford repayments and to offer support in the event of financial difficulties. The rules will come into effect when BNPL falls under the FCA’s oversight next year, granting borrowers protections similar to…
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Data from Barclays reveals a slight decline in consumer card spending, with a 0.1% fall recorded in June, less than the 1.0 per cent reported in May and below the latest CPIH inflation rate of 4.0 per cent. Confidence in household finances improved six percentage points to 73 per cent – a four-month high. Meanwhile,…
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New analysis from FICO has revealed a worrying trend of rising card fraud levels and losses across the continent. The data from Euromonitor International on 18 countries shows that Card Not Present (CNP) fraud dominates card fraud losses and has increased across most countries. E-commerce fraud, e-wallet, social engineering and QR code fraud or “quishing”…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Barclays Bank a total of £42 million for separate instances of failings in its financial crime risk management – one relating to WealthTek and one relating to Stunt & Co. Barclays Bank UK PLC will make a voluntary payment to WealthTek’s clients. In the first case, Barclays Bank…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) have announced reforms with an aim to modernise the financial redress system to help prevent it from becoming overwhelmed, delaying consumer compensation. Currently, the majority of complaints are resolved by firms, and the redress system works well for individual cases that come to the Financial…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that consumer finance new business grew in May 2025 by 2% compared with the same month in 2024. In the first five months of 2025, new business in this market was 4% higher than in the same period in 2024. The credit card and…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that consumer car finance new business volumes fell in May 2025 by 2% compared with the same month in 2024. The corresponding value of new business grew by 1% over the same period. In the first five months of 2025, new business volumes were…
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In the first phase of reforms to the Senior Manager Certification Regime (SM&CR), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) are proposing to streamline the regime to make it more effective and efficient and to drive growth in financial services. As the government consults on legislative changes to the regime – including…
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Community lender Salad has announced that it has appointed Craig Pennington as Chief Strategy Officer. Pennington joins Salad from Fair4All Finance where he was responsible for managing investments and partnering with mainstream finance with the aim of attracting investment capital to community finance providers. Salad is a community development finance institution (CDFI) which serves full-time workers…
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Latest UK credit card data from global analytics software leader FICO provides stark evidence that consumer financial confidence remains low. Whilst spending has followed the usual seasonal drop after Easter, the average active balance is 4.7% higher year-on-year, suggesting consumers are not able to clear as much of their credit card debt. The percentage of…
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The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) annual report has shown that over 1,600 websites suspected of promoting financial services without permission were suspended, removed or blocked in 2024. The regulator also collaborated with big tech platforms, resulting in over 50 apps being removed from Google Play and the App Store, helping the regulator to block fraud at…
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New research by Aviva and Age UK has found only half (48%) are confident they are on track to make their private pension savings last for life. Just over a quarter (26%) reported feeling financially secure, with women (19%) feeling less financially secure than men (32%). The research surveyed 1,000 mid-retirees aged 65-75 who have…
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A large proportion of younger people are deferring retirement saving in the hope that an inheritance will plug the gap, according to research from Standard Life’s Retirement Voice report. A quarter (24%) of Generation Z (those born between 1997-2012) say they’re not currently focused on retirement because they expect to receive money or property in…
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