Research has revealed that unscrupulous advertisers mimic the names of legitimate debt charities, raising concerns that vulnerable people seeking help are at risk of bad advice. Since the beginning of April, nine companies purporting to provide debt advice have been placed on the Financial Conduct Authority’s blacklist of unauthorized firms, according to an exclusive analysis … Read more
The coronavirus crisis will leave millions of families facing a collective personal debt tsunami of £6.1 billion, one of the UK’s most notorious debt charities warns today. The government should provide £5bn in grants to those most financially affected so they can pay their debts, put in place payment schemes for those who are behind … Read more
Credit card interest rates hit a record high this month despite a record low base rate as service providers raised the cost of borrowing for those with poor credit histories or were turned down by major banks. The average credit card APR is now 25.5 percent, compared to 24.1 percent last June, after credit card … Read more
The Financial Conduct Authority confirmed that credit card and personal loan borrowers will be able to freeze their payments for another three months. However, the city’s watchdog said those who can afford to make reduced payments should do so. Borrowers who have not yet placed a payment freeze, along with those who have not yet … Read more
Borrowers were given a reprieve from overdraft rates of nearly 40 percent at the start of April, as banks were ordered by the regulator to keep costs down as the coronavirus spread. But last week, the Financial Conduct Authority reopened the door to sky-high overdraft fees when it said it would not extend those rules … Read more
How did you spend the lockdown period? For a lot of people, it has a lot to do with the TV. Market research firm Kantar estimated in May that a fifth of all households in the UK had subscribed to a streaming TV service such as Amazon Prime, Netflix or newly launched Disney+ since lockdown … Read more
Buy now, pay later giant Klarna has launched an ad campaign asking users to consider whether what they’re buying is essential, despite boasting to retailers that it helps people spend more. The company, one of Europe’s most successful startups with 8.6 million users in the UK and an estimated valuation of $5.5 billion, has faced … Read more
Buy now, pay later on Square Checkout in recent years allowing shoppers to buy items without paying for them right away has technically dumped many. New research shows that nearly a third of people say they don’t consider late payments a debt. “The emergence of new forms of credit, such as buy now and pay … Read more
The banks revealed in their results today that hundreds of thousands of Barclays and Santander customers have taken paid holidays on credit cards, personal loans and mortgages. Meanwhile, official figures from the Bank of England show that households have cleared billions of pounds of debt over the past few months. Santander, Britain’s third-biggest mortgage lender, … Read more
Diners looking to take advantage of the government’s 50 percent discount plan starting Monday can take a deeper understanding of the cost, if they have an American Express credit card. Its ‘Shop Small’ campaign has been running since late June and gives those who spend at least £10 in participating shops and restaurants £5 on … Read more