Rises of up to 0.75 percentage points follow increases at First Direct
Customers of HSBC will receive a boost to their savings after the bank announced an increase to interest rates, as Britons enjoy some of the highest rates in more than a decade.
The lender is increasing rates on some of its savings accounts, with increases of up to 0.75 percentage points.
Continue reading...Lenders forced to raise fixed-term deals after latest inflation figure pushed swap rates upwards
Households looking for a new mortgage deal have been warned to expect 5%-plus fixed-rate deals in the coming weeks, after Wednesday’s inflation figures sent the money markets back into turmoil.
Nick Mendes, the mortgage technical manager at the broker John Charcol, said on Thursday that he doubts that there will be any two-year fixed-rate mortgages and probably few five-year deals priced at less than 5% in the coming weeks, as lenders are forced to reprice their mortgages upwards.
Continue reading...Skipton building society aims product at renters who cannot save enough for a deposit
A leading lender plans to launch a 100% mortgage aimed at would-be first-time buyers who cannot save for a deposit, the first since the 2008 financial crisis.
Standard home loans where the borrower does not have to put down a deposit used to be fairly commonplace but the last was axed in the wake of the financial crisis.
Average monthly cost of owning 3-bed home is £500 a year less than renting, but the gap is narrowing
Homeowners in the UK are nearly £500 better off a year than renters, according to new research from Halifax.
The average monthly cost of owning a three-bed home for first-time buyers is now £971, which is £42 lower than the average cost of renting an equivalent property, the mortgage lender said. Renters pay on average £1,013 each month – 4% more.
Continue reading...February figures from BRC highlight impact of cost of living crisis on British economy before budget
UK consumers sharply cut back their spending in February as soaring living costs damaged household finances, retailers have warned, despite strong sales of jewellery and fragrances for Valentine’s Day.
Highlighting the impact of the cost of living crisis on the economy before Jeremy Hunt’s budget next week, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said sky-high energy bills and the rising cost of a weekly shop were forcing shoppers to cut back.
Continue reading...Chief executive Charlie Nunn could receive £9.1m payout, while top performing bankers to share £446m bonus pot for work in 2022
Lloyds Banking Group has been accused of “stuffing the pockets of already overpaid bankers” after proposing increases for top bosses that could result in a £9.1m payout for its chief executive, Charlie Nunn.
The bank revealed on Wednesday that staff would share a £446m bonus pot – the highest in four years – for their work in 2022, despite reporting flat annual profits, after an increase in the money put aside for a potential jump in defaults.
Continue reading...Full list of site closures, which will start in April and carry on through into June this year
Lloyds and Halifax have become the latest high street banks to announce a series of branch closures across England and Wales.
Lloyds Banking Group, which owns both banks, is to close 18 Halifax sites and 22 Lloyds branches, starting in April and through into June this year.
Continue reading...Quarter of consumers more likely to visit branches amid struggles with surging energy, food and housing costs, finds KPMG survey
Cost of living pressures have increased the number of customers relying on bank branches to help manage their squeezed budgets, research shows.
While the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of online-only banking, particularly during lockdowns, research from the accountancy firm KPMG showed a quarter of UK consumers were more likely to visit bank branches now that households were grappling with surging energy, food and housing costs.
Continue reading...FCA penalises bank after millions of customers were locked out of their accounts for weeks
City regulators have fined TSB £48m for “widespread and serious” failings related to the IT meltdown in 2018 that left millions of banking customers locked out of their accounts for weeks.
The long-awaited fine is expected to draw a line under the scandal, which tarnished the challenger bank’s reputation and forced its chief executive to step down within months of the botched move to a new IT platform.
Continue reading...Increase adds up to a £26bn rise for homeowners, says Resolution Foundation thinktank
More than five million families could see their annual mortgage payments rise by an average of £5,100 between now and the end of 2024, heaping fresh pain on households already struggling with higher food and energy bills.
The increase adds up to a £26bn mortgage rise for homeowners, according to the analysis by the Resolution Foundation thinktank which said nearly a fifth of British households would have to spend more on their housing costs by the end of 2024.
Continue reading...RICS report says rise in repossessions will add to supply while soaring interest rates price buyers out of market
Homeowners will struggle to make mortgage repayments and repossessions will rise next year as soaring interest rates and falling prices mark the end of the UK’s 13-year housing market boom, according to a sobering report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
The number of inquiries from potential homebuyers fell for a fifth month in a row in September, while sales fell to the lowest level since May 2020 when the housing market all but ground to a halt during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, it said.
Continue reading...Initiative may continue beyond December as bank bosses raise concerns over mortgage market
The chancellor is considering extending the government’s mortgage guarantee scheme after UK bank bosses raised concerns over the state of the UK’s mortgage market at a high-level meeting at No 11 Downing Street.
The meeting on Thursday – which was attended by chief executives including Alison Rose of NatWest, Charlie Nunn of Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC UK’s Ian Stuart, Mike Regnier of Santander and TSB’s Robin Bulloch – was scheduled amid mounting fears about the potential fallout from rapidly rising mortgage rates.
Continue reading...This week’s decision could pit Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey against an expansionary PM and chancellor
A lightning strike from the Bank of England awaits. Having delayed its decision until after the period of national mourning for the death of the Queen, Threadneedle Street could this week launch the biggest rise in borrowing costs for at least 25 years.
Announcing its plans a day before Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget on Friday, the central bank is widely expected to use a fast and forceful rate increase to show its commitment to tackling soaring borrowing costs – despite the gathering storm clouds for the British economy.
Continue reading...Additional 13 hubs will bring total to 25, where customers of almost any bank can carry out transactions
More shared “banking hubs” are to be rolled out across the UK to help communities hit by branch and ATM closures to get continued access to cash.
A banking hub is a shared service that operates in a similar way to a standard branch, with a counter service run by Post Office staff where customers of almost any bank can withdraw and deposit cash, make bill payments and carry out regular transactions.
Continue reading...Spike in inflation and threat of rising energy prices likely to add to cost of living crisis, say analysts
Credit card borrowing jumped in June at its fastest annual rate in 17 years as struggling households appeared to rely on extra borrowing to cope with the escalating cost of living.
Credit card borrowing rose by £740m month on month, 13% higher than the year before, according to Bank of England figures that showed the biggest year on year rise since October 2005.
Continue reading...Two-factor authentication is designed to reduce the £376m lost to fraud in 2020
Online shoppers in the UK face more identification checks when paying for purchases on the internet from Monday, as new rules to clamp down on fraud come into force.
The new Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) requirements will change the way people confirm their identity when using their debit or credit cards to make online purchases, and are expected to lead to more card payments being declined. It is the biggest change to card payments since chip and pin was rolled out 16 years ago, and is designed to reduce the £376m lost to online fraud in 2020.
Continue reading...From building up a nest egg by earning interest on small change, to using an app for budgeting
There is no point trying to save if you are burdened by costly debts.
Continue reading...Change from October could lead to higher prices for those paying with UK-issued cards
Mastercard is to increase the fees EU firms face to take payments from online shoppers from the UK by at least 400%, in a move that could mean higher prices for consumers.
When a credit or debit card is used, a percentage of the purchase price is paid by the retailer to the bank that issued it as an interchange fee, which is set by a payments firm.
Continue reading...Fed up with modern finance and Britain’s broken banking system, Anne Boden decided there was only one thing to do: set up a bank that ran in the way she wanted it to
The first time I met Anne Boden was last December at a glitzy awards ceremony where I knew no one, felt out of place and was skulking in the loos. In she bustled – she’s smaller than me (I’m 5ft 1in), older than me (she’s 60), a little eccentric and perhaps the friendliest person in the place. She didn’t stop talking. She ushered me out, remained by my side until the ceremony started (think Disney’s Fairy Godmother) and, along the way, mentioned that she was the founder and CEO of Starling Bank, the event’s main sponsor.
I couldn’t have been more surprised – or picture a less likely “banking mogul”. When she explained that Starling was an app-based bank, I rewarded her with the worst response possible. “You mean like Monzo?” (My daughter had signed up to Monzo, the trendy “no branches” bank, to acquire its distinctive coral-coloured card, which now gathers dust on her bookshelf.) Boden was gracious but flustered. I ascertained that Monzo had been founded by her former business partner Tom Blomfield. He was considerably younger, more hip, more Hoxton – and he’d left her, taking the other directors with him.
Continue reading...Lawsuit could benefit 46 million people even if they have never owned the credit card
Almost every adult in the UK could receive a payout of up to £300 from Mastercard after a court ruling paved the way for a £14bn class action lawsuit.
The legal action taken by former financial ombudsman Walter Merricks claims that 46 million UK consumers paid higher prices in shops over a 16-year period because of allegedly excessive transaction fees charged by Mastercard.
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