Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
In the first six months of a new reimbursement scheme, £66m was returned to victims of authorised push payment (APP) scams, according to the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) Launched in October last year, the new rules mandate banks to reimburse victims unless they were grossly negligent. Consumers reported around 109,000 claims, with 77,000 in scope for…
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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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Lenders said they lifted the availability of household secured credit in the three months to the end of May and expect to do so again over the coming quarter, according to a latest Bank of England survey. The survey found that lenders reported that the availability of both secured and unsecured credit to households increased…
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New research from TransUnion UK has revealed that over eight million people are using Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) for items under £50, whilst 4% put purchases under £25 on this short-term credit. Over a quarter (26%) of people now prefer to use BNPL over credit cards for everyday spending, with 18 to 24-year-olds (20%)…
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New research from The Current Account Switch Service has revealed that one in four (24%) UK adults have less than £250 in their current account. The data also shows a decline in those with higher balances in their current accounts, with a 15% decrease of those with over £2,500 since 2021. A vast majority of…
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Consumers are increasingly using credit to pay for insurance cover and switching to monthly payments for car and home insurance to manage their bills, new research from Premium Credit shows has found. Premium Credit’s Insurance Index, now in its sixth year, found that 76% of insurance customers use some form of credit to pay for…
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UK Finance data has shown that the total value of transactions on these cards was just over £1 trillion during 2024. The figures were in line with 2023 and split betwee debit card spend of £797 billion (down 0.8 per cent compared) to 2023 and credit card transactions worth £249 billion (up 5.3 per cent compared…
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New Barclays Consumer Spend data shows a record 94.6 per cent of all eligible in-store card transactions were made using contactless in 2024, surpassing the previous year’s record of 93.4 per cent. Shoppers used the technology more frequently, 236 times across the year, on average (vs. 231 in 2023) – and the cost of the…
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New research by Which? has found that car and home insurers are charging annual percentage rates (APRs) equivalent to credit card lenders for customers who pay for cover monthly payments. The research found that the average annual percentage rate (APR) for car insurers charging monthly is 22.84%, while home insurers average 21.59%. The consumer group…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is considering whether to remove or increase the contactless card limit to enhance economic growth and benefit households and businesses. The FCA says that damilies and businesses across the country could benefit from greater choice, flexibility and smoother purchases. Making regulation less prescriptive would also give firms greater control and…
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The Government has announced that the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) will be abolished and its remit absorbed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The move comes amid concern that the financial regulatory system is overly complex. The PSR, which looks after payment systems like Faster Payments and Mastercard, will mainly be consolidated into the Financial…
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The Government has voiced concern that local communities are at risk of losing access to banking services without specialised hubs. Speaking as she inaugurated the UK’s 100th banking hub in Lancashire, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves said “Without these banking hubs, towns are going to be banking deserts.” The Government plans to establish 350 hubs by…
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The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has published its final report of its market review into cross border interchange fees. The report finds that the high level of fees is harming businesses. The report found that throughout 2021 and 2022, Mastercard and Visa raised their cross-border interchange fees fivefold from 0.2% to 1.15% for debit cards…
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