Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Latest figures from UK Finance have indicated that mortgage arrears figures fell in the fourth quarter of 2021. The figures showed that overall, there were 79,620 homeowner mortgages in arrears of 2.5 per cent or more of the outstanding balance at the end of December 2021, a reduction of 750 homeowner mortgages compared with the…
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The bounce back in the UK economy was stronger than expected last year, but the EY ITEM Club’s Winter Forecast has nevertheless downgraded its projections for UK GDP growth for 2022. The EY ITEM Club believes that UK GDP grew 7.3% in 2021, up from the 6.8% predicted in its previous forecast. Growth of 4.9%…
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Global information and insights provider TransUnion has announced it is set to accept Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) finance into UK consumer credit files, becoming the first credit reference agency in the UK to do so. Following extensive research and product innovation, buy now, pay later finance – also known as deferred payment credit –…
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Latest data from Fico has indicated that spending and credit card balances increased over the Christmas period. The average active balance continued its strong upward trend at £1,550 in December, although it will take several more months of continuous growth to reach the £1,719 average seen in December 2019. The percentage of payments to balance…
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Credit Connect’s hosted its fourth Online Collections Technology Think Tank 3.1 last week which saw collections strategies and the impact of the pandemic discussed by fifteen collections professionals from a variety of industry sectors. The themes of collections risk, customer engagement, affordability, vulnerable customers and the future collections were discussed by panellists and Chair Vanessa…
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A quarterly survey of by property website Zoopla reveals that the cost of renting a property is rising at its fastest pace in 13 years with the average UK tenant facing a bill of nearly £1,000 a month. The UK’s average rental growth has reached a 13 year high, up 8.3% in Q4 2021, meaning…
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TotallyMoney has announced that it has appointed Rebecca Shears as its new Chief Marketing Officer. Shears holds over 20 years’ experience in national and international marketing roles, working with global consumer brands including T-Mobile, HP and global fintech payments company OFX. More recently she was Global Chief Marketing Officer at BIMA, responsible for growing the…
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New research by Compare the Market has revealed that more than half of the OECD countries surveyed have household debts greater than their annual net disposable income. The research showed that Nordic countries take out the top two places with Denmark and Norway have the two highest household debt to disposable income ratio respectively. Russia,…
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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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The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Financial Resilience, has found a quarter (24%) of working-age adults (18-64 years old) didn’t save any money during the pandemic sparking major concerns about financial insecurity. The revelations have led to Co-Chairs of the APPG, Shaun Bailey MP and Tonia Antoniazzi MP, to issue a call for evidence to…
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The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has named 12 firms to be in default and out of business, including one credit union and one mortgage adviser firm. All Flintshire Credit Union and mortgage advisor firm, Midland Independent Financial service (formerly The Mortgage Shop) are listed amongst the 12 firms the FSCS believes are unable to…
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With the Treasury announcing support measures for households set to be hit by a spike in energy prices, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has urged officials to extend the support to small businesses. FSB National Chair Mike Cherry said “Many small businesses face many of the same challenges as consumers in the energy market,…
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Credit management group Intrum has announced it has signed an agreement to manage the collections and recoveries functions for the Sainsbury’s Bank and Argos Financial Services portfolios. Under the agreement, Intrum will assume responsibility for collections and recoveries on a white label basis for loan, credit card and store card products. The deal means the…
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