FCA agrees Amigo Loans customer compensation scheme

Amigo Loans has been given a seal of approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for a customer compensation claims scheme, Shares in Amigo tumbled by 55% last May after the High Court stated that it was ‘not satisfied that the court should sanction the scheme’pushing back against Amigo’s original proposal to cap customer compensation claims.…

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Consumer borrowing falls in January

Latest Bank of England (BOE) data shows that borrowing declined in January, with borrowing using credit cards, personal loans and overdrafts totalling around £600m compared to £800m in December. This was split between £100m of additional borrowing on credit cards, and £500m in borrowing in other forms of consumer credit (such as car dealership finance…

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Credit card fraud hit a five-year high

Latest data from the National Fraud Hunter Prevention Service, analysed by Experian, found the detected fraud rate for cards rose by 42% between October and December 2021, when compared to the previous quarter, the highest rate since 2017. Typically, an increase in fraudulent activity is detected over the festive shopping period, but 2021 proved especially…

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Bank of England considers mortgage affordability rule changes

Rules introduced in 2014 by the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) to restrict the amount mortgage applicants could borrow may be reversed following a review by the Bank of England (BoE). Since 2014, Banks have had a limit on the number of mortgages they can offer where someone is borrowing more than 4.5 times their salary.…

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Car Finance company sees 15% increase in loan amounts

21st February 2022 Consumer Lending | #car finance

Car finance company, Go Car Credit has reported a 15% increase in average car loan amounts from 2020 to 2021. Reporting a 25% increase in secured agreements in 2021 compared to 2020, it appears vehicle financing continues to see a boost despite the pandemic and semi-conductor shortage. With the average age of those taking out…

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Consumer spending slowed in January with Plan B restriction keeping consumers at home

9th February 2022 Consumer Lending | #spend

Data collected by Barclaycard reveals that growth in spending on debit and credit cards slowed in January as Plan B restrictions kept consumers at home. The analysis showed that spending increased by 7.4% in January compared with pre-pandemic levels in January 2020, the lowest level of growth since April 2021. Fuel spending rose by 6.7%,…

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Incomplete data means 5 million are needlessly ‘financially excluded’

More than 5 million adults are unnecessarily financially excluded, meaning they could potentially struggle to access affordable and fair financial services and the most affordable home energy and broadband deals, according to research conducted by LexisNexis Risk Solutions. The report found that 1 in 7 adults in the UK (c.7.1 million people) fall into the…

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Consumers start to run down savings to sustain household spending

Consumers are starting to run down the savings built up during the pandemic in order to sustain household spending patterns threatened according to latest Bank of England (BOE) figures. The Bank said savings stood at £3.2bn in December, less than a third of the £10.6 billion monthly average for the previous 12 months. Consumer credit…

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Equity release customers to be given right to make partial repayments on lifetime mortgages

1st February 2022 Consumer Lending | #equity release

New equity release customers will be able to mitigate the costs of borrowing in later life through a new product safeguard announced by the Equity Release Council (the Council), the representative industry body. From 28th March 2022, all customers taking out lifetime mortgages that meet Council standards will be guaranteed the right to make penalty…

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Banking competition is growing

21st January 2022 Alternative Consumer Lending | #banks

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) says competition in retail banking is growing, with a shift from large banks to small businesses. In an update to its 2018 strategic review of retail banking, the FCA says the increase in competition is providing more choice and lower prices for consumers. The analysis shows that the share of…

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Older homeowners release a record £4.4bn in property wealth

20th January 2022 Consumer Lending | #Private equity

Older homeowners released a record £4.4 billion in property wealth last year at a rate of more than £12 million a day as customers helped family and secured their own finances by repaying debt or remortgaging existing borrowing, data from the UK’s leading equity release adviser Key shows. Around one in five equity release plans (19%) taken…

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Consumer finance new business grows by 33%

17th January 2022 Consumer Lending | #consumer lending

New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that consumer finance new business grew by 33% in November 2021 compared with the same month in 2020. In the eleven months to November 2021, new business was 14% higher than in the same period in 2020. The credit card and personal loan sectors…

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Lenders report lower borrowing demand

14th January 2022 Consumer Lending | #consumer lending

Lenders have reported a lower borrowing demand at the close of the year according to a new report from the Bank of England (BoE). The quarterly survey of banks and building societies found that demand for secured lending for house purchases fell in the final quarter of last year. The demand for mortgages fell back…

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