Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Which? is calling on the next Prime Minister to appoint a dedicated fraud minister to finally get a grip on fraud, as the consumer champion launches its agenda for Government. Fraud continues to blight the lives of millions of consumers and accounts for around 40 per cent of crimes committed in England and Wales.Losses to…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has confirmed that several firms have been permitted to recommence their sales of Guaranteed Asset Protection (GAP) insurance, following action by the regulator to improve fair value. To restart sales, firms need to demonstrate that their GAP products provide fair value to customers, in line with FCA rules. …
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The Building Societies Act 1986 (Amendment Bill) has been completed in Parliament. This new Act of Parliament was introduced by Julie Elliott MP (Lab, Sunderland Central) to help to put building societies on a level playing field with their banking competitors, enabling them to support more lending to first-time buyers and homeowners in the future.…
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Data released from Step Change shows one on four (24%) adults have relied on credit to pay for essentials such as food and household bills as in the cost of living crisis. RSM UK is reminding banks and other credit agencies of their responsibilities as lenders, in line with Consumer Duty rules. FCA guidance for credit providers…
Read moreA 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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A criminal has been sentenced after using stolen post to commit over £32,000 of fraud. Adrian Brown, from South London, has been sentenced at Inner London Crown Court to 18 months for stealing at least £32,000. He stole post from letterboxes which enabled him to commit fraud through gaining access to banking customer information. Sentencing…
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A new report from the Lending Standards Board (LSB) shows the progress made by UK banks and lenders over the last 12 months in offering better accessibility support to deaf customers. In the UK, one in five adults are deaf, have hearing loss, or tinnitus. Hearing loss affects more than 40% of people over 50…
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With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, the way consumer loans have been offered and priced has been quietly revolutionised, opening up opportunities for more consumer-centric, personalised products. As a data scientist and advanced analytics consultant to the banking industry, I’m fascinated by modern AI tools and their ability to give pricing committees a much deeper view of their…
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Car owners are being hit with eye-watering annual percentage rates (APR) of nearly 40 per cent when paying for their insurance monthly, a new Which? investigation has found. The study found some home insurers charging up to almost 35 per cent APR on monthly payments. The consumer champion is now calling on the Financial Conduct…
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UK Finance has today announced work on a new UK Regulated Liability Network (RLN) experimentation phase with eleven of its members. The UK RLN is envisaged as a common ‘platform for innovation’ across multiple forms of money, including existing commercial bank deposits and a shared ledger for tokenised commercial bank deposits. Through a collaboration of…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a letter to motor finance firms reminding them to maintain adequate financial resources as a probe into the market continues. The FCA is currently reviewing the historical use of motor finance discretionary commission arrangements (DCA). The regulator says that it has observed firms taking different approaches to account…
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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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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued guidance for memes, reels and gaming streams promoting financial services. The FCA has set out how adverts across social media channels must be fair, clear and not misleading, meaning they must have balance and carry the right risk warnings so people can make well informed financial decisions. …
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