FSA to monitor refunds from banks

It has been reported that the UK’s financial regulator, the Financial Services Authority, is to closely monitor refunds that are made by banks in instances where the consumer states that he or she has not authorised a transaction. Regulations that were brought in last November required banks to make immediate refunds to consumers for transactions that they claim that they had not made unless there was clear evidence that the consumer was involved in fraud or had been reckless. Read more

Tags: ATM, Economy of the United Kingdom, Financial Services Authority, bank, business, hsbc, HSBC Holdings PLC

Businesses and consumers still wary about economy

A recent report has suggested that business and consumers across the UK are still wary about the outlook for the economy, despite assurance that the economy is heading towards some degree of recovery. Although various industry groups and government officials have tried to make the economic outlook appear to be somewhat brighter than many people see it, to many consumers and businesses the fragility of the economy means that any recovery could quickly be overturned. Read more

Tags: bank of england, Consumer behaviour, Confederation of British Industry, consumer confidence, BDO

Thousand leave Halifax over bank charge changes

It is reported that around seventy thousand customers have left the High Street banking giant Halifax amidst anger over changes to the way it charges for overdraft facility usage. There is also speculation that customers of the bank are still leaving, which means that eventually the changes may have cost the banking giant in excess of 100,000 customers. Many customers are said to have moved to rival banks, with many others trying to open new current accounts with an alternative bank so that they can leave Halifax. Read more

Tags: Office of Fair Trading v Abbey National plc, Bank charge, fee, Banking in the United Kingdom, halifax, overdraft

Cheques will be phased out if alternatives found

It has been reported that by 2018 cheques could be phased out altogether in the UK, but that this will only happen if suitable alternative for cheques are found. The data has been released by the UK Payments Council, which has set the date of 2018 to try and encourage alternative forms of payment to be developed and used so that the end of the cheque will not have such a huge impact on consumers. Read more

Tags: Banking, UK Payments Council, Payment systems, cheque, Debit card

Lotto scam sees some elderly consumers lose life savings

There are many different scams in circulation at present, with the economic climate and recession having seen the number of scams in circulation rise and the number of people prepared to take a risk on these scams also increase. In many cases fraudsters that operate these scams target more vulnerable people such as the elderly, and this is what has been happening with a lottery scam that has seen some elderly consumers dwindled out of their life savings. Read more

Tags: office of fair trading, Lottery, Social engineering, Spamming, Lottery scam

Ministry of Justice warning over another scam

The Ministry of Justice has recently issued a warning over another scam that has been used to dupe many consumers in the UK and swindle them out of large sums of money. According to the MoJ fraudsters are cold calling consumers and pretending to be government officials. Read more

Tags: Ministry, Ministry of Justice, claims management firms, fortune, upfront, office of fair trading

Consumers want to see more ten pound notes in circulation

The Bank of England is being urged to ensure that more ten pound notes are put into circulation after a flood of complaints from shoppers in the UK. Business leaders have told the Bank of England that consumers are getting annoyed at having to carry around larger notes such as twenty pounds notes in their wallets and purses because of the lack of ten pounds notes that are available. Read more

Tags: twenty pond notes, notes in circulation, bank of england, 10 notes, ten pound notes, 20 notes

HBOS angers customers with new overdraft fee charges

The banking industry is already at the centre of heated controversy with the problems that it has been caught up in over the past couple of years, but one bank has now angered customers yet again with changes to its authorised overdraft charges. Read more

Tags: bank charges, overdraft fees, hbos bank charges, hbos, hbos banking changes

Consumers could miss out on bargains due to fear

The fear that many consumers feel about making purchases over the Internet could be causing them to miss out on the many bargains that can be found online.

Read more

Tags: online scams, safety online, online fraud, internet scams, internet fraud, internet security

QE failing to make necessary impact

Following the recent announcement that a larger amount of money is to be ploughed into the economy through the quantitative easing programme a number of industry groups and officials have come forward to claim that the government is simply throwing good money after bad because the scheme is clearly not working. Read more

Tags: quantitative easing, Monetary Policy Committee, estimates, Federal Reserve System, economist, gdp, economics, quantitative easing programme

Consumers becoming more comfortable with shopping online

A recent report has suggested that a rising number of consumers in the UK are becoming more comfortable with shopping online, and this is set to result in a huge boost in the number of businesses running their operations online. Read more

Tags: surprise, huge boost, shopping, internet, woman, online shopping, home, buyers and sellers

What the economists think of the Quantitive Easing programme

The quantitative easing scheme is something that the government has been relying on to help pull the UK out of recession over the course of this year, but although the scheme has been extended on a number of occasions there are mixed reactions from industry officials with regards to just how well – if at all – this programme is working in terms of improvement to the economy. Read more

Tags: stimulus effort, Fiscal policy, bias, Quantitive Easing, statement, number, policy, bank of england

Gordon Brown promises to pull Britain out of recession

The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, recently promised in a podcast that he would pull Britain out of recession.

His promise came after shock figures released recently revealed that the economy had once again shrunk by around 0.4 percent despite hopes that the economy had improved, which means that Britain is now in its longest ever recession. Read more

Tags: recession, longest recession, credit card sector, britain recession, credit card limits, promise, shock, caution

Banks make agreement following pressure from OFT

Following continued pressure from the Office of Fair Trading the banking industry in the UK has agreed that it will not only make current account charges clearer for customers but will also make it easier for customers to switch to another provider should they wish to do so. Read more

Tags: Association, office, fault, banks compensate customers, Banking, office of fair trading

Whopping overdraft charges from Halifax

The High Street lender Halifax is to increase its borrowing costs from December of this year, and this will see customers having to spend a small fortune on the cost of borrowing, with the lender planning to hike up borrowing costs significantly. Read more

Tags: income, bank charges, overdraft facility, halifax, interest, halifax bank charges, charging structure

Card fraud goes down whilst banking fraud increases

Recently released figures have shown that whilst credit card fraud in the UK has been going down, which will come as a relief to the many cardholders that have been fearful about becoming victims of this sort of crime, the level of online banking fraud has been increasing. Read more

Tags: Credit card, pin technology, level, credit card fraud, banking fraud, losses, business

Virgin Money applies to become bank

Virgin Money has put in an application to become a fully fledged bank according to a recent report. The company, headed by Sir Richard Branson, already offers a number of financial products, but now wants to become a full service bank and has put in an application to do so. Read more

Tags: banking service, crunch, Financial Services Authority, Virgin, virgin money bank, virgin money

More people putting money towards funerals instead of savings

According to a recent report an increasing number of consumers are now putting money towards their funeral costs rather than putting it into savings. It appears that the recession has caused a new trend to emerge, and rather than leaving their loved ones to foot the bill should the worst happen many people are already putting money aside for their funeral rather than putting their spare money into a savings account. Read more

Tags: money, savings, increase, year, report, service, space

Many expect to be able to survive on welfare

It has been revealed in a recent report that many people in Britain feel that they would be able to survive adequately on government welfare in the event that they lost their jobs. More than a third of Brits were found to believe that the government would provide them with adequate sums of cash if they lost their jobs, even though the amount per week comes to under £70.00. Read more

Tags: outgoings, Britain, giant scottish provident, welfare, Scottish, jobseeker's allowance, recent years, unemployment benefit

Financial complaints soar into their millions

Recent figures that were released have shown that consumer complaints relating to financial services have soared into their millions over the past few years, with data showing that between 2006 and 2008 more than nine million separate complaints were made to financial firms in the UK. Read more

Tags: loan complaints, financial complaints, fsa, mortgage endowments, Complaint, Business Finance, United Kingdom, bank complaints

£31,000 fall in average household wealth

It has recently been reported that average household wealth in the UK has fallen by around £31,000 since last year, with households seeing their household wealth drop as a result of the global credit crunch and the ongoing recession. Read more

Tags: bank, factor, property prices, billions, homes in addition, Household, household wealth, Wealth

£100 incentive from Abbey and A&L

With the competition amongst the leading UK banks and building societies for increased custom some have been offering consumers incentives to entice them to switch their bank accounts, and this is something that Abbey and Alliance & Leicester have now decided to do. Read more

Tags: alliance & leicester bank account, bank accounts, Leicester account, bank, Current account, rate, uk banks, alliance & leicester

Blanchflower attacks King over recession

A former member of the powerful Monetary Policy Committee has recently launched a verbal attack on the governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, according to a recent report. Read more

Tags: recession, mpc, mrvyn king, david blanchflower, bank of england

Millions of RBS customers to benefit from bank charge cuts

Starting from next month around twelve and a half million RBS current account holders are set to benefit from bank charge cuts, with the bank announcing that it is going to be cutting charges on millions of accounts. Read more

Tags: money, cut, rbs bank charges, bank charges, account holders, bank fees, Banking, Bank charge

CV fraudsters targeting financial firms

It has been claimed in a recent report that financial firms and banks could be hit with a flood of CVs and application forms from fraudsters, who have filled the application form with lies in the hope of getting hired and being able to conduct fraudulent activity at the financial institution. Read more

Tags: net, order, recent graduates, activity, financial firms, work, advertising, cv fraud

Consumers not happy over treatment by banks

A recent report has suggested that many consumers are still furious over how they are treated by some of the nation’s major banks, and think that many of the banks are badly managed. Read more

Tags: Citizen Advice Bureau, bank loans, banks, bank customer service, rbs, bank charges

MPC official expects growth in the economy

According to a recent report an official from the powerful Monetary Policy Committee has predicted that there will be growth in the UK economy over the course of this year. Read more

Tags: economics, onset, official expects growth, Economy of the United Kingdom, recovery, Monetary Policy Committee

Recovery of economy being affected by two major factors

Industry officials have recently stated that the recovery of the economy in the UK is being seriously hampered by two major issues, which have been highlighted as rising unemployment levels and the rising number of swine flu cases. Read more

Tags: whilst, publicity, state, economic recovery, industry officials, recession, breakdown

Improvement in High Street sales seen in June

According to recently released figures June saw an improvement in High Street sales levels, partly fuelled by consumers heading out to buy new clothes following the short but significant heat wave seen during that period. Read more

Tags: consumer spending, shopping, homeware, official, High Street

Faster compensation in place for savers

There has been some good news for worried savers in the UK recently, after financial services authorities announced that the speed at which compensation is paid out to those that lose their savings following the collapse of a financial institution is to be increased. Read more

Tags: savers, financial crisis, Financial services, thousand pounds, saving compensation, savings accounts

Economy benefits from an additional cash injection

The economy is to benefit from an additional £50 billion, which is to be ploughed into the economy through the government’s quantitative easing programme. Read more

Tags: recession, bank of england, injection, better surveys, uk economy

Banks try to recover by making customers pay

It has been suggested that many banks and building societies in the UK are trying to rebuild their financial portfolios and profits by making customers pay, according to a recent report. Read more

Tags: borrowing, margin, cost of borrowing, banks, change, level, fixed rate, percent

Price comparison sites part of new crackdown

It has recently been reported that price comparison sites are now part of another regulatory crackdown, and tougher rules and regulations have been put into place to stop these sites from giving consumers confusing or misleading information. Read more

Tags: compare prices, comparison site, voluntary code, Marketing, Recreation and Sports, price comparison sites, personal details

Commission based financial advice to come to an end

It has been reported recently that financial advice based on commission is to go through a clampdown, with the aim being to put an end to commission based financial advice by 2012. Read more

Tags: underway, agreement, commission based financial advice, consultation, Collective investment scheme

Watchdog makes pledge over bank charges

The UK consumer watchdog, the Office of Fair Trading, has recently promised the no matter what the outcome of the ongoing battle against the banks in relation to bank charges it will still continue to pursue these charges as unfair. Read more

Tags: cheque, office of fair trading, initial rulings, bank charges, action, senior official, bank accounts, overdraft charge claims

Banking crisis easing according to central bank

It has been reported that the Bank of England in the UK has claimed that the crisis that has hit the banking industry has started to ease off, although it does not deny that the system remains highly vulnerable and could be easily hit by disruption again. Read more

Tags: bank of england, vast improvement, credit crunch, banking crisis, finance

Survey shows many not putting money into pension

A recent study has shown that a worrying number of people in the UK are failing to put any money into a pension for their futures, thus running the risk of being left with inadequate funds to retiring comfortably in the future. Read more

Tags: savings, pensions, reason, Employment compensation, money, study, Personal Accounts

Worries about finances affecting borrowing levels

It has recently been reported that the level of borrowing amongst consumers in the UK has been negatively affected as a result of so many consumers being worried about their financial situations. Read more

Tags: personal finance, Cognition, financial crisis, finance, External Commercial Borrowing, behaviour, personal finances

More job cuts at Lloyds TSB

Despite becoming what was described as a super-bank following its takeover of troubles banking group HBOS, Lloyds TSB has announced a fresh round of job cuts earlier this month, with the announcement that it would be closing all of its Cheltenham & Gloucester branches. Read more

Tags: unrest, lloyds tsb, branch, lloyds, unemployment

Economic growth will be slow according to CBI

According to the Confederation of British Industry the growth of the UK economy still has a long way to go, and progress is likely to be slow. The comments from the CBI came amidst a variety of other industry reports that showed encouraging figures with regards to output and growth over April and May, and showed a rise in consumer confidence, as well as increased interest in the housing market from first time buyers. Read more

Tags: credit crunch, bank of england, cbi officials, job losses, first time buyers, May

UK doing better than other European economies

It has been claimed in a recent report that the economy in the UK is faring much better than other European economies, and that the UK government deserved credit for its economic policies. Read more

Tags: Regional science, Great Depression in the United Kingdom, labour government, economy, Pound sterling

G8 finance ministers discuss stabilising of economies

According to a recent report G8 finance ministers have stated that major economies around the world are starting to stabilise following the turbulence and chaos caused by the global financial crisis and the recession, the UK being one of these economies. Read more

Tags: report, economies, interest, global recession, Tim Geithner, G8, South Korea, Ministers

Overdraft interest rate increases from Barclays

Barclays Bank has recently hiked up the interest rates charged on its overdraft facilities on many of its accounts, including its packaged current accounts for which customers have to pay a monthly fee. Read more

Tags: Additions, bank accounts, customer, overdraft deals, increase, overdraft interest rates

No need to take complaints to FOS through claims handling firms

Officials from the Financial Ombudsman Service have recently reiterated that there is no need for consumers to enlist the help of claims handling firms in order to take a complaint to the FOS. Read more

Tags: Financial Ombudsman Service, Citizen's Advice Bureau, Ministry of Justice, finance claims, personal finance

Iceland agrees to compensate UK

It has been revealed that the Icelandic government has finally agreed to repay the UK as well as the Dutch authorities following the collapse of the Icelandic banking system. Read more

Tags: icesave, uk savers, Icesave dispute, compensation, agreement, banks, uk government

Will recession be over by autumn?

It has been claimed in a recently released report that the UK industry could have pulled itself out of recession by as early as autumn of this year, after figures showed that there was an improvement in activity in May compared to April. Read more

Tags: recession, industry officials, output, activity index reading, double digit declines, Business Finance

Bank employees confused about cheque clearance

Many consumers in the UK are confused over the issue of how long it takes for a cheque to clear, and a recent survey has shown that this comes as no surprise given that employees of banks themselves are also confused about cheque clearance times. Read more

Tags: cheques clear, cheques, time for cheques to clear, cheque clearance times, clearance times, surprise, staff members, Many consumers

Santander to take over High Street banking names

It has been revealed that a number of well known financial names will disappear from the High Streets in the UK from next year, when they are rebranded in the name of the Spanish financial institution that owns them. Read more

Tags: abbey, uk, spanish bank santander, santander, Street banking names, bradford & bingley, rebranded, individual brands

40 percent bonus increase for FSA staff

In the midst of the ongoing financial crisis the UK’s financial regulator, the Financial Services Authority, has hiked up staff bonuses by a whopping 40 percent, according to recently released reports. Read more

Tags: past year, fsa bonuses, fsa, climate, regulator, figure, northern rock. liberal democrats, bonus

No change in base rate for third month

For the past couple of months the base interest rate in the UK has been kept at its record low of 0.5 percent, and following this month’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting the Bank of England has announced that the rate will remain on hold for a third month. Read more

Tags: money, level, base rate, record low, October

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