Loans & Credit

Lloyds tops financial firms' complaints list

Wednesday, 7 September 2011

Lloyds TSB was the most complained about financial brand in the first six months of this year. The Financial Ombudsman Service dealt with 19,569 new complaints about the bank between January and June 2011. Barclays took second in the table of shame with 16,864 complaints.

Spotlight On: First direct balance transfer credit card

Saturday, 3 September 2011

Money Insider: Credit card battle fought on two fronts

Saturday, 27 August 2011

Retail spending has become subdued in the current tough economic climate, but that hasn't stopped credit card companies from falling over each other as they try to persuade us to sign up for their new offerings.

MPs criticise banks for attempting to scrap cheques

Wednesday, 24 August 2011

MPs are battling banks' plans to abolish cheques. A Treasury Select Committee has warned banks not to attempt to abandon cheques by stealth or deter customers from using cheques. It has also recommended that the Payments Council be brought under regulatory control to stop its "unfettered power to decide the future of cheques".

Keep it in the family, but avoid rifts with relations

Sunday, 21 August 2011

More people are bypassing traditional lenders in favour of intergenerational loans. Roz Sanderson reports

4,000 jobs at risk as MBNA credit card division closes

Wednesday, 17 August 2011

About 4,000 jobs are at risk after Bank of America decided to exit its credit card business in the UK and Ireland. The division, known as MBNA, employs about 3,500 people at its site in Chester, and 500 people in Ireland. It boasts one of the largest portfolios in Europe, with more $19bn (£12bn) in credit card loans.

Barclays launches plastic price war

Tuesday, 19 July 2011

Who says banks don't want to lend? In the credit card market they are fighting tooth and nail to do so. James Moore reports

Interest-free credit cards are seldom the good deals they seem

Tuesday, 19 July 2011

Barclaycard's new 24-month offer of free credit looks great, doesn't it? After all, if you transfer £3,000 from a competitor's credit card with an APR of 18.9 per cent, Barclaycard says you'd save £935 in interest payments over the two-year period.

Stop short-term need turning into a long-term crisis

Sunday, 17 July 2011

As more Britons turn to credit cards long before the next payday, Chiara Cavaglieri investigates all the options

Cheques get reprieve as banks forced into U-turn

Wednesday, 13 July 2011

The payments Council has been forced into a U-turn over its plans to scrap cheques by 2018. The bank-funded organisation had seemed bent on phasing out the paper-payment system but yesterday bowed to people pressure in cancelling its programme.

Simon Read: Support this crackdown on legal loan sharks

Saturday, 25 June 2011

Parliament is set to vote on the issue of high-cost credit on Tuesday. These are the pay-day loans, which have staggering APRs approaching 2,000 per cent. On the one hand, used carefully, they allow people to borrow £100 or so to help them over a short-term cash crisis.

Social lending finds favour with older investors

Sunday, 19 June 2011

People over 50 have discovered the system is a useful way to top up their pensions. Chiara Cavaglieri reports

Money Insider: Don't dismiss peer-to-peer options for personal loans

Saturday, 18 June 2011

Even though the base rate has been stuck fast at 0.5 per cent for the past 27 months, the interest rate charged by banks and building societies for personal loans is at the highest level for over a decade.

Master the art of financing postgraduate studies

Saturday, 18 June 2011

Almost two million students in the UK are entering the final stages of their undergraduate degrees. But with next year's postgraduate courses kicking off in September students need to decide soon whether to enrol on another degree. One of the biggest barriers is securing the necessary funding, but there are options for students keen to continue their studies.

Spotlight On: Capital one click reward credit card

Saturday, 11 June 2011

Crackdown on loans market

Thursday, 2 June 2011

Credit brokers that demand upfront fees from consumers for loans they have no intention of arranging will be shut down, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) warned yesterday.

Car-buyers turn to the forecourt for finance

Sunday, 29 May 2011

Credit is just one of motor trade's lures to drivers

Social lending: Get better returns and help small firms

Saturday, 28 May 2011

Social lending allows you to achieve 8 per cent or more on your savings while giving the economy a boost.

Google set to introduce alternative to credit cards

Thursday, 26 May 2011

Google is planning to launch an "electronic wallet" that will allow users of its Android phones to use their device to make payments as an alternative to using a credit card.

Quick-fix loans can cost a fortune, but a rates cap may not be the answer

Sunday, 22 May 2011

They've been called 'legal loan sharks', but payday lenders are thriving, and may save the desperate from real predators

New regulations 'will kill off loans market'

Thursday, 19 May 2011

New US regulations designed to make financial markets safer and prevent a repeat of the credit crisis could in fact kill off a major part of the secondary market in loans and leave housing finance reliant on government support forever, representatives for Wall Street's major firms are warning.

Five Questions About: Payday loans

Saturday, 14 May 2011

Interest rates on loans hit record high

Thursday, 12 May 2011

Interest rates on small personal loans hit a record high last month as unsecured borrowing costs remained elevated.

Three million customers due for payout over banks' PPI policy

Tuesday, 10 May 2011

Biggest financial product mis-selling scandal in history finally comes to a conclusion

Why the dream of microfinance is turning sour

Sunday, 8 May 2011

Leo Hornak: Small loans were meant to spell the end of Indian poverty. Instead, they reinforce it.