Credit, collections & insolvency news
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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Research by the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) reveals that 36% of fraud victims are now hesitant to adopt new money management methods with vulnerable groups are particularly affected. Almost one in five fraud victims said their experience left them feeling anxious or depressed, while half reported a diminished trust in others. A third of victims…
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Payment companies are urging the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) to delay or rethink fraud refund rules that are due to come into force in October, saying few firms are ready to implement them. The rules will force banks and other payment firms to refund victims of authorised push payment (APP) fraud up to a limit…
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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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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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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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The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has announced that it is proposing to introduce a price cap to protect UK businesses from overpaying on these interchange fees. Subject to the PSR’s final report and further consultation on remedies, this could happen in two stages: An initial time-limited cap of 0.2% for UK-European Economic Area (EEA) consumer debit…
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The total value of refunds and charge disputes could be as high as £13.2 billion per year in the UK, with the cost implications for retail Britain set to be greater still, according to new research from Equifax. The research found that more than two in three consumers (71%) have never had a refund or…
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The total number of payments (consumer and business) in the UK last year increased to 45.7 billion, up from 40.4 billion in 2021 according to data analysis by UK Finance. Payments made by businesses accounted for 13 per cent of the number of all payments made in the UK during 2022. However, due to the…
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A new study from Juniper Research has found that the total value of digital wallets transactions will rise from $9 trillion in 2023 to $16 trillion in 2028, a growth of 77%. The trend is driven by growth across both developed and developing markets, as the increased adoption of advanced services such as BNPL (Buy Now…
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A new study from Juniper Research has predicted that the value of digital prepaid card transactions will exceed $3.98 trillion globally by 2028, up from $528.7 billion in 2023. Juniper says that by 2028, the value of digital prepaid card transactions will represent just under 60% of total prepaid cards spend, up from 15% in 2023,…
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Household spending increased last month but continued to trail behind inflation rates, according to new figures from Barclays. The figures showed that consumer card spending rose four per cent year on year in March, less than half the latest CPIH inflation rate of 9.2 per cent, as consumers made further cutbacks to cope with the cost-of-living…
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Data from Barclays has revealed that 91.2% of card transactions were contactless last year, up from 85.6% of eligible card transactions being contactless in 2021. The research found that the average contactless user made 220 ‘touch and go’ payments last year, up from 180 in 2021, with the average value per transaction rising 18.5 per cent…
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