Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Consumer spending growth is at its weakest in more than three years, according to a report by Barclays. Despite falling inflation, the report found that higher council tax bills and the rising cost of broadband and mobile phones are eating into household budgets. The report found that consumer card spending grew just 1.0 per cent…
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A new report by the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has found that Mastercard and Visa, the two biggest card schemes, do not face effective competition when dealing with merchants and acquirers. The report found that in respect of core scheme and processing services, there is currently no effective competition to Mastercard and Visa. In some…
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New analysis by Barclays found that grocery spending saw its smallest increase since June 2022, with a record 73% of consumers trying to cut the cost of their weekly shop. The analysis showed that consumer card spending slowed to 1.6 per cent growth in April, down from 1.9 per cent in both March and February,…
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New research by TotallyMoney has investigated the different payments structures for Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) and has found a lack of consistency and regulation is leading to millions of people struggling to manage payments. The research found that. the average customer makes 4 BNPL transactions per month, resulting in 12 separate payments for the…
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Spring optimism saw households spend more on the things they want in March as year-on-year essential costs began to fall, Nationwide’s Spending Report shows. The situation, likely aided by warmer weather and stabilising costs, saw discretionary spend increase across gardening, meals out and holidays at the same time costs reduced across areas including debt, utilities…
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Latest figures from the Hargreaves Lansdown’s Savings & Resilience Barometer have shown that on average, households spend £2,081 on essentials each month. The cost of 3 months’ worth of essentials is up £1,028 in two years – and the cost of 3 years’ worth is up £12,339. Spending on essentials varies wildly with income. The…
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Half of consumers say they have cut non-essential spend in the first quarter of the year and consumers are four times more likely to save than spend, according to new research from KPMG UK. KPMG UK’s Consumer Pulse survey tracks the quarterly confidence and spending behaviour of 3000 consumers across age and income groups and…
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The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has published its Annual Plan, setting out its key aims, activities and costs for 2024/25. The annual [lan highlights that this year, the third of its five-year Strategy, will be an important one for consolidating the delivery of the PSR’s valuable work to improve payments for people and businesses across…
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Consumer card spending grew just 1.9 per cent year-on-year last month, significantly lower than the latest CPIH inflation rate of 4.2 per cent and the smallest growth since September 2022. Face-to-face retail (excluding groceries) was a major contributor to this slowdown, contracting 2.2 per cent, which helped boost “Insperiences”, including takeaways and digital content, as…
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New Consumer Spend data from Barclays’ annual contactless trends report has revealed that 2023 was another record-breaking year for ‘touch and pay’, further cementing it as the UK’s most popular payment method, owing to its speed and convenience. Usage grew across all age demographics, and the gap between older and younger audiences continues to narrow,…
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A study has found that whilst women are leading on budget management and day to day financial planning, they are not investing for the future and less likely than men to invest in stocks and shares according to research by Readly. Two thirds of people (76 percent) consider themselves to be financially literate and engaged…
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New research by TopCashback has found that almost three-quarters of adults (71%) ‘in control’ of spending, an 8% increase compared to three months ago. The report reveals that consumers also have more in their bank account at the end of the month compared to Autumn 2023, climbing from £323 to £691 Yet, 17% are still…
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UK Finance has released its latest card spending data for November 2023 highlighting that there were 379.3 million credit card transactions in November, 6.4 per cent more than in November 2022. The total spend of £20.9 billion was 6.2 per cent higher than November 2022. Outstanding balances on credit card accounts have grown by 9.8…
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