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Banks try and tempt back customers with higher rates

Many of the major banks in the UK are trying to tempt back business from customers by increasing the interest rates that are offered on their current accounts. Whilst the judge that was presiding in the recent bank charge High Court test case deliberates over his ruling, which is eagerly awaited by campaigners and consumers who have slated these charges, the bank have decided to wage a current account interest rate war in a bid to increase custom. Read more

Government vouchers to be launched to help with fuel costs

According to a recent report the government is to introduce vouchers that may be made available to some families in order to help them cope with soaring energy costs. The voucher plan is estimated to be costing £600 million and those eligible could be in line for vouchers of £50 or £100 to help pay for their energy costs. The scheme is being considered as part of the Prime Minister’s autumn relaunch according to government officials. Read more

Jump in the level of phishing attacks

Over recent years online banking fraud has become a big problem in the UK with fraudsters using increasingly sophisticated and convincing methods to try and extract account details from unsuspecting consumers. One such method is known as phishing, and this is where the fraudster sends out an email claiming to be from the bank, which also has a link. When the consumer enters the bank’s website through the link and enters the bank account details he or she has literally just handed the details to the fraudster, as the website is a fake one, even though it may look like the bank website. Read more

Many consumers may only be able survive for eleven days

According to a recent report a worrying number of adults in the UK would only be able to survive financially for around eleven days in the event that they lost their jobs or were not well enough to work and earn money. Officials have said that the results of the survey show a worrying trend, where many are living on the financial brink, and could easily be toppled over the edge if their income supply is cut off for any reason. It was found that more than one third of adults would only be able to survive for up to eleven days in this situation. Read more

Negative equity threat faces nearly two million

The news has been filled with month on month house price falls over recent months, and most people are aware that the value of properties in the UK has been steadily falling, with some reports indicating that house prices are now down to the same level that they were in August 2006. This has left many people in fear of falling into negative equity, which is where they owe more on their property than the property is actually worth. Read more

UK savings set to rocket

The level of cash savings in the UK is set to rocket over the next five years based on current savings trends according to a recent report. The report claims that by 2012 the level of savings in the UK could hit £1 trillion. The level of cash savings has rocketed over recent years, according to the Alliance and Leicester, growing five times faster than unsecured borrowing over the past seven years. Based on this trend cash savings could be as high as £1 trillion in just five years state officials from the bank. Read more

Building societies enjoy an increase in deposits

According to recent reports many building societies are enjoying a huge increase in business following the chaos at Northern Rock in September, when many customers withdrew a combined total of over £2 billion amidst fears that the bank was on the verge of collapse. The fears came after consumers found out that the bank, which was the fifth largest mortgage lender in the nation, had taken an emergency loan from the Bank of England. Read more

Rochdale credit union collapses

A Rochdale based credit union has collapsed and was recently closed down. Members of the credit union, Street Cred, have now lost access to their benefits, wages, and savings, but they have been reassured by the Financial Services Authority that their money is protected and is safe. The Financial Services Authority and officials from the credit union will be working together to sort out payouts for the members of Street Cred. Read more

Are you hiding your money in the home?

According to recent research a high number of consumers in the UK tend to hide at least some of their money around the home, putting themselves at risk of financial losses through theft or loss and failing to earn any interest on the money that they have hidden around the home. Amongst the common – of rather clichéd – places to hide money are in a biscuit tin, under the mattress, and most commonly simply stashed in drawers around the home. Read more

Younger people must start investing in their futures

Industry experts are warning that younger people in their twenties and thirties need to start seriously thinking about their financial futures, and need to start putting money aside into savings, pension, or investment so that they are able to enjoy an increased income when they reach retirement age. According to some experts many twenty and thirty somethings are failing to think about their future retirement, and are wasting money on frivolous spending or running up debts that could seriously affect their standard of living when they retire. Read more

Much of the UK fails to save money

A recent report has shown how many people in the UK fail to save any money – in fact, the figures suggest that an alarming 25% of consumers in the UK fail to save any money at all, whilst many others do put some money aside but then spend it all on holidays. The study was carried out by the Post Office, and also showed that whilst a third of consumers did try and save money they did not do this on a regular monthly basis. Many experts feel that failure to put any money aside in savings could pose problems for consumers. Read more

Twenty percent of Brits are keen savers

Although riding inflation and interest rates have hit hard on the pockets of consumers in the UK around 20% of Brits state that they are keen to save money and will make the necessary sacrifices to help ensure that they can do this. According to the results of the study, which was conducted by National Savings and Investments, around a fifth of Brits are keen savers and are willing to make the necessary cutbacks in order to be able to prioritise on their savings. Read more

7% available on some savings accounts

There is good news for savers in the UK, with recent reports showing that interest rates on some savings accounts are the highest in six years, reflecting the brighter side of the recent series of interest rate rises that have taken place over the past year. Five interest rate rises of 0.25% each have resulted in the base rate rising from 4.5% last August to 5.75%, which has created problems for borrowers on variable interest rates. However, for savers the interest rate rises have resulted in better returns on their savings. Read more

Customer details lost by high street bank

One of the UK’s leading high street banks, HSBC, recently admitted that it had lost the personal details of around 370,000 customers, after a disc went missing. The bank faced an investigation by the Financial Services Authority after it admitted to losing the information. The disc was being sent to reinsurance offices via an external courier in March when it went missing. The bank admitted the loss to the Financial Services Authority. Read more

Customers want to see more financial products at the supermarket

According to the results of a recent survey customers in the UK are eager to see a wide range of financial products being made available from their local supermarkets, as many feel that the supermarket can offer far better service and far better value for money on these services and products compared to traditional banks. Many supermarket giants, such as Asda, Tesco, and Sainsbury’s, already offer a range of financial products and services such as insurance, loans, savings, and most popularly credit cards. Read more

ICICI tumbles on best buy tables

Having enjoyed a high position on the best buy tables for some time, the Indian bank, ICICI, which stormed into the UK markets recently has now decided to reduce the interest rate paid on its HiSave account following the Bank of England’s most recent interest rate cut in February. The bank did not announce its decision to cut the rate for some time following the announcement of the base rate cut, but has now confirmed that the rate on the account is being dropped to 6.16%, which is a cut of 0.25% in line with the base rate cut. Read more

Difficult retirement for those in their thirties

Many consumers in their twenties and thirties give little or no time to the thought of how they will fund their retirements, and a recent report has shown that those in their thirties could be heading towards a very bleak retirement due to lack of money fuelled by frivolous spending and failure to put any money aside for their futures. Hundreds of younger people were polled in a survey for the Skipton Building Society, and the result showed a worrying trend amongst consumers in their thirties. Read more

Customers flocking to put savings with Icesave

Many UK consumers are now taking action with regards to making their savings work harder for them by placing their money into an Icesave account, which pays an impressive interest rates, enabling savers to earn more in interest than they may be getting with their existing provider. Icesave is part of Iceland’s Landisbank, and was launched in October 2006, under one year ago. Since its launch Icesave has enjoyed great success with billions of pounds being invested by savers. Read more

Savers wondering if they will benefit from the latest rise in interest rates

Banks in the UK have come under fire from savers who have not yet seen a change in the interest on their accounts due to the increase in rates. The controversy arises from the fact that the increase in interest rates was applied by the Bank of England about four weeks ago, but savers have not yet seen it applied to savings accounts. There have been several increases in interest rates during this past year and while banks have been very quick to apply them to loan accounts they are not so fast to apply the same increases to interest on savings accounts. In the past, some savers have not seen only a partial rise in the interest on their savings account, if they saw any change at all. Read more

Can the Rock win over consumer confidence?

Since the crisis that surrounded Northern Rock last year, when it was discovered that the Rock had taken an emergency loan from the Bank of England, things have gone from bad to worse for the stricken lender. First share prices plummeted, then customers withdrew over £2 billion in savings over the space of a few days amidst fears that the bank was on the verge of collapse, and then talks with private buyers relating to the sale of the bank proved to be fruitless. Read more

Interest rate rises mean more good news for savers

Although the latest interest rate rise has dealt yet another blow to homeowners and those with variable rate loans, it could prove very fruitful to those with savings accounts, as a number of banks have decided to apply the full rate rise onto savers, which means that customers could start seeing a healthy profit rolling in from interest, particularly on larger deposits. Read more

Bill suggests that other banks could be nationalised if problems arise

The emergency Bill that was recently rushed through parliament in order to allow the nationalisation of the ailing bank Northern Rock is causing concern amongst some industry professionals with many worries that the nature and wording of the Bill means that other banks that experience similar problems to Northern Rock could also end up passing into public ownership, which could result in further negative impact on taxpayer’s money. Read more

Find the right savings account for you and your kids

Although the four interest rate rises that have been applied by the Bank of England over the past year have spelled bad news for borrowers on variable rates, for those with saving these rises should be good news. However, according to recent research this is not always the case, with banks and financial institutions acting very quickly to apply any interest rate rises to borrowing but acting far more slowly when it comes to applying rate rises to savings. In some cases interest rate rises are not passed on in full or even at all when it comes to savings accounts. Read more

Savers need to keep an eye on interest

The two recent interest rate cuts applied to the base rate by the Bank of England have been welcomed by many borrowers with variable rate mortgages, but have not benefited savers, who have seen interest rates on savings accounts come down. However, savers are being urged to keep an eye on interest rates, with officials stating that in some cases the interest rate on savings accounts has come down by way more than the base rate cut. Read more

Judge has not yet delivered ruling on bank charges

Over the past couple of years the rows and controversy over the charges that banks apply to the accounts of customer’s have been getting more pronounced. The charges referred to are those for exceeding the credit limit, and for bounced cheques and returned direct debits. Campaigners claimed that dealing with these things only cost the banks between £2 and £5 yet the banks were applying fees of around £30-£40 per charge to the customer. Read more

Boy found doors of closed bank open

Many banking customers in the North Yorkshire area may be experiencing concerns over their account security after on bank in the area was found to have left its doors open despite the fact that the bank was closed and staff had gone home. Luckily the discovery was made not by a hardened criminal looking to get hold of cash or sensitive data but by a five year old boy who spotted some toys that he wanted to play with inside the branch. Read more

Building societies enjoyed great success last year

A recent report has shown the level of success that many of the UK’s building societies enjoyed last year, with many consumers ploughing billions of extra pounds into these societies. Read more

Do you need a basic bank account or a current account?

An increasing number of banks have started to offer basic bank accounts over recent years, and these basic accounts are often known by different names depending on which bank you go through. A basic bank account, as the name suggests, is a more basic version of a current account, and let you run your day to day finances but with certain restrictions in place. Read more

MoD loses application details

The Ministry of Defence has kicked off the New Year with another data loss blunder, after admitting to the loss of the details of 600,000 people following the theft of an MoD laptop from Edgbaston in Birmingham. According to reports the Ministry of Defence has lost the applications, which also contained personal and bank details, of 600,000 people that applied to the Marines, the Navy, and the RAF. This is one of the latest in a long line of data loss blunder by government and other agencies. Read more

What does the bank charge High Court test case mean for consumers?

Earlier this week the eagerly awaited High Court test case relating to bank charges in the UK began. Bank charges have been at the centre of controversy for a couple of years now, ever since campaigners and regulators pointed out that banks were charging consumers far more than it was actually costing the banks for exceeding overdraft limits, for bounced cheques, and for returned direct debits. Some banks were charging consumers close to £40 per fee, whereas the actual cost to the bank is thought to be between £2 and £5. Read more

Changes made to cheque deposits

Following a change in regulations consumers that make cheque deposits into their bank accounts will now be able to enjoy increased speed and efficiency, as well as other benefits. The new rules, put together by the Cheque and Credit Clearing Company along with APACS, will come into force at the end of November. The Office of Fair Trading has been trying to get clarification on cheque clearance times for years from the banking industry. Read more

ISAs: New limits for 2008

In a recent report the new savings and investment limits for ISAs for next year have been outlined. The changes to these savings and investment levels will come into force from April 2008, and although the total investment and saving combined level has gone up some experts state that those that want to save and invest may find that the amount that they can invest is less than the current level. Read more

Has the interest rate cut affected your savings

All across the UK there were sighs of relief earlier this month, after the Bank of England announced that it would be cutting the base rate from 5.75% to 5.5% after a 0.25% cut. For many months homeowners have been struggling to keep up with mortgage repayments, with interest rates having risen five times since August 2006 and impacting heavily upon monthly mortgage repayments for many homeowners. Read more

Sensitive employee data lost by building society

In he latest in a long line of blunders by various organisations involving the loss of sensitive date, it has recently emerged that the Leeds Building Society has mislaid data on around one thousand of its employees. The sensitive data included bank and salary details, and as a result of this loss the members of staff at the building society have been warned to remain vigilant and keep an eye out for any suspicious activity in terms of their bank account or personal information. Read more

FSA responds to accusations over Northern Rock

The Financial Services Authority has been accused, along with other financial regulatory bodies, of not doing enough to prevent the recent chaos at Northern Rock, which became the victim of the first run on a UK bank in nearly 150 years.

The Financial Services Authority was set up seven years ago, and one of its responsibilities is the policing of banks. Experts state that the FSA now faces its biggest test since it was set up. Read more

Changes to Co-op charging structure cause controversy

Recent changes to the charging structure used by the self proclaimed ‘ethical’ Co-operative Bank have caused controversy, with many experts stating that the bank’s new structure will adversely affect people on the lowest incomes.

According to reports the way that the charges will be applied under the new structure will result in banking customers getting into debt more quickly, with poorer customers suffering most as the result of the changes to the charging structure.

Read more

Banks wasting your money on costly marketing

An official from the Indian ICICI bank, which is aiming to break into the UK market with a range of services over the coming months, has stated that many UK consumers may be having to put up with lower interest rates paid on savings simply because the banks spend so much money on advertising and marketing, particularly over the Christmas period.

The banks claims that some savers could be losing between 1.5 and 1.8% on their saving because of the tens of millions that banks are spending on advertising and marketing costs. Read more

Banks’ main defence for test case rejected by OFT

The big test case in relation to bank charges that is due to take place in early 2008 has made headlines in the financial world.

According to a recent report banks in the UK put forward a defence stating that the reason that the bank charges were fair was because they covered the cost of providing a service to the customer. However, this defence has been blown out of the water by the Office of Fair Trading, which has claimed that these charges cannot be seen as service charges. Read more

Unauthorised Bank Charges

Lloyds TSB has cut its penalty charges for some things, but customers may end up paying more. The bank recently promised to cut the cost of unauthorised borrowing, and said that the rate for an unauthorised overdraft would be cut from 29.8% to somewhere between 10 and 20% from 2 November. In addition the penalty charge for bounced or returned cheques will be reduced from £35 to £20.

As ever, things are not always what they might seem. Read more

Unauthorised Bank Charges

Lloyds TSB has cut its penalty charges for some things, but customers may end up paying more. The bank recently promised to cut the cost of unauthorised borrowing, and said that the rate for an unauthorised overdraft would be cut from 29.8% to somewhere between 10 and 20% from 2 November. In addition the penalty charge for bounced or returned cheques will be reduced from £35 to £20.

As ever, things are not always what they might seem.

Currently if you exceed your overdraft you will be liable for a £30 penalty, with up to three charges per month. The new system will have a monthly penalty fee of £15 – reduced – but there will be an additional daily charge of between £6 and £20, depending on the overdraft’s size, for a maximum of ten days. Read more

Barclays messes up on graduate accounts

It is now the time of year when many banks, such as Barclays, start moving over their student account holders that have graduated from university this year to standard accounts.

However, in the process of doing this Barclay’s Bank has apparently made a real blunder, and has accidentally removed the overdraft facilities of nearly 20,000 graduates. Many of these graduates have overdraft facilities of up to £3000, which they may have eaten into, and because the facilities have now been removed they will be seen as having made unauthorized transactions. Read more

Customer receives compensation from HSBC

A banking customer has received compensation from his bank, HSBC, after making a complaint over the marketing materials relating to the bank’s savings account, stating that it was misleading.

It is thought that the bank’s decision to pay out the compensation to the customers could lead to a flood of claims from other customers using the same savings account. The bank paid out over £100 to the customer after he claimed that the marketing material relating to its 8% savings account was misleading. Read more

More jobs being created at Nationwide

At a time when many financial institutions are cutting jobs and sending call centres abroad in order to save money and due to the effects of the turmoil that has hit the financial markets in the UK, one financial institution has announced the creation of around 200 jobs, with more to come over the next few years.

Nationwide Building Society is expanding its call centre in the Swindon area, which means that it will be able to offer more jobs in the next few years. Read more

Building society deposits rocket

The amount of money that savers are depositing in building societies has rocketed following the recent Northern Rock crisis.

Septembers saw the level of deposits made to building societies from savers go sky high as savers that had closed their accounts with Northern Rock – withdrawing over £2 billion in total – sought an alternative account in which to place their savings. Net receipts for building societies leapt by 181% in September, rising to £2.8 billion. Read more

Did you close down your Northern Rock ISA

The recent turmoil to hit the financial markets in the UK and worldwide has affected many financial companies, and one of the major UK victims of this turmoil is Northern Rock.

The lender, which was the fifth largest mortgage lender in the nation, was forced to go to the Bank of England for a loan recently, but once this became public knowledge there was widespread panic amongst the customers of the bank, who were worried that the bank was on the verge of collapse. Read more

Northern Rock ISA customers will not have to lose benefits

In a recent statement the Treasury has announced that Northern Rock customers that closed their ISA accounts down amidst the recent chaos will not have to lose their tax free benefits providing they act quickly.

After the became public knowledge that the stricken bank, which was the fifth largest mortgage lender in the country, had asked the Bank of England for an emergency loan many of the Rock’s 1.5 million savers withdrew their money from the bank. Read more

Savings account options for Icesave customers

As part of the first birthday celebrations of Icesave, which has enjoyed enormous popularity in its first year, savers are being offered a choice of fixed rate savings accounts available to those that want to make their money work harder for them.

The accounts will allow customers to save anything between £1000 and £2 million, and there is a choice of three of these fixed rate accounts on offer. The accounts are available on one, two, or three year savings terms, with interest that can be paid either monthly or annually. Read more

Darling answers to the Treasury Select Committee

Following the recent run on stricken UK bank Northern Rock, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, has responded to questions from MPS on the committee, and has stated that more regulations for the banking industry are required.

Mr Darling is part of the tripartite authorities, along with the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority, that were dealing with the Northern Rock crisis. Read more

Chairman of Northern Rock quits

The chairman of stricken bank Northern Rock, which had enjoyed a reputation as the nation’s fifth largest mortgage lender, has now quit following the turmoil that the bank has been experiencing over recent weeks.

After discovering that the bank had taken an emergency loan from the Bank of England any of its 1.5 million savers withdrew over two billion pounds in total from the bank amidst fears that it was on the verge of collapse. Share prices also plummeted over a period of days, and the reputation of the bank took a battering that many say is impossible to recover from. Read more

Good news for Northern Rock ISA victims

The recent turmoil at Northern Rock resulted in many of the bank’s 1.5 million savers withdrawing money from their accounts, including ISA accounts, amidst panic that the bank was on the verge of folding after it borrowed money from the Bank of England.

As a result of this many customers lost their tax free benefits from closing down their ISA accounts, which are accounts that allow savers to enjoy tax free interest on savings, with a maximum deposit up to £3000 in cash each year. Read more

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