By Mark Richards. The new ‘challenger banks’ should have helped consumers be better off and better informed about their finances. But now some of the new banks are running into trouble – and so far, the benefits for the consumer are questionable. Over the last two years, I have written several articles about British banking: [...]
By Trevor Clawson. Imagine for a moment that you’re shopping for shoes. You see a pair costing £100 and a swift glance at your bank account confirms that you can afford to make the purchase. Just then a cheaper pair catches your eye, so you decide to buy them instead. This time around, there’s no [...]
By Trevor Clawson. Last year, around ten million people filed their Self Assessment tax returns on time, according to Her Majesty’s Customs and Revenue Commissioners (HMRC) figures. With the penalty for late submission starting at £100 and rising by £10 for each additional overdue day, there is clearly a very strong incentive to complete a [...]
By Trevor Clawson. British banks earn a huge amount of money from current account customers who regularly, or occasionally, slip into the red. In 2017, overdraft charges amounted to a hefty £2.4bn, with 30% of that total attributable to customers who had overstepped their credit limits, thus exposing themselves to additional charges. But things are [...]
By Lauren Howells. Fraud victims who are conned into sending money to a scammer will soon be able to complain to the bank that received their money, as well as the bank that sent it. New rules published by the Financial Conduct Authority at the end of last week, mean that from 31 January 2019, [...]
By Mark Fairlie. Around 2 million TSB customers were unable to log in to the bank’s website on Wednesday morning until after 10 am that day following IT maintenance work which overran. Although customers were able to log into the mobile phone app, TSB apologised stating that “we’re really sorry the planned maintenance overnight for [...]
By Mark Richards. The world of banking is changing – but right now no part of it is changing more fundamentally than loans. Mobile phone apps and the ever more sophisticated use of information means that loans can increasingly be tailored to a customer’s changing credit profile. We take a look at what’s happening… Over [...]
By Trevor Clawson. It’s very much a twenty-first-century problem. In a world where contactless cards are fast replacing cash as the preferred means to make even the smallest of purchases, the average bank statement can contain details of hundreds of transactions every month. Drinks bought at a bar, a newspaper purchased at a railway station, [...]
By Mark Fairlie. A new EU regulation called “Payment Services Directive 2” (PSD2) may lead to consumers living in areas with poor mobile reception facing increased difficulties making online purchases, according to James Daley, the managing director of research and ratings agency, Fairer Finance. Under the new system, an extra layer of security will soon [...]
By Trevor Clawson. Last week I took possession of a shiny new iPhone and minutes after the man from UPS had made the delivery, I began the setup process. Around two screens in, the phone invited me to add my card details to Apple Pay and at that point, I had to stop and think. [...]