UK homeowners unprepared for interest rate hike, warns TSB December 9, 2015 UK homeowners are unprepared for an interest rate rise, despite nearly three quarters of borrowers facing an increase in their monthly repayments if the Bank of England votes for a change in the base rate. A survey released today by high street bank TSB found that one of five of borrowers said they have “no [...]
Make £££ interest on top current accounts this year August 17, 2016 Savers have been dealt a double whammy of blows this month. The Bank of England cut interest rates from their already-record low of 0.5 per cent down to a paltry 0.25 per cent, which is likely to have an impact on the already poor levels of interest paid on savings accounts. The 0.5 level was considered [...]
City Moves for 10 October 2016 | Who’s switching jobs October 10, 2016 Personal Group Personal Group has appointed George Farrow, the former Reward Gateway chief operating officer, to lead the client management teams and promote the uptake of Hapi, Personal Group's benefits platform, among new and existing clients. With a strong background in strategic growth and product development, George moved into the benefits market following 30 years [...]
How nine challenger banks reacted to the CMA’s report on current accounts August 9, 2016 Nine challenger banks including TSB and Metro Bank have slammed the findings of the UK's competition watchdog in its investigation into the retail banking sector, arguing the review has missed “a golden opportunity”. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) report, published this morning, called on banks to implement an “open banking” standard by 2018, allowing customers to monitor and access all [...]
TSB results: Chief executive Paul Pester says the big banks have it far too easy as his challenger bank reports 22 per cent increase in customer lending for 2015 January 28, 2016 TSB Bank chief executive Paul Pester told City A.M. that the challenger bank "definitely went from strength to strength" in 2015, as the lender announced its full-year results this morning. The retail and commercial bank, which was carved out of Lloyds Banking Group in 2014, reported profits were ahead of expectations, with management profit before tax of £105.7m, while [...]
City Moves for 17 October 2016 | Who’s switching jobs October 17, 2016 Yorkshire Building Society Yorkshire Building Society has appointed Mike Regnier as chief executive. Mike, who joined the Society in 2014, is currently chief customer officer and executive director. Mike, who has 20 years’ corporate experience in consulting and retail financial services, was formerly products and marketing director at Lloyds Banking Group, where he was responsible for the [...]
City Moves for 2 September 2016 | Who’s switching jobs September 2, 2016 Noble Foods Group John Gildersleeve has been appointed chairman of Noble Foods Group. John will oversee the implementation of the group's growth strategy for diversification and acquisitions. John spent 20 years on the Board of Tesco during its period of rapid expansion. Currently he is the chairman of British Land, a FTSE top 50 property [...]
As Santander slashes rates on its market-leading 123 account, will this be a lost decade for Britain’s savers? August 15, 2016 Danny Cox, a chartered financial planner who works at Hargreaves Lansdown, says Yes. The nightmare for savers continues with little sign of respite. The few bright spots, such as the Santander 123 account, are following an inevitable path of rate decline. Savers now face a lost decade of returns on their cash. Inflation rises on the horizon [...]
City Moves for 4 July 2016 | Who’s switching jobs July 4, 2016 Towergate Towergate has appointed Kay Martin as commercial director. Kay will join the executive committee, reporting to CEO David Ross. She will join Towergate from Zurich UK where she has been a member of the UKGI executive team and chief marketing officer since June 2010. Kay recently assumed interim responsibilities for Zurich UK Personal Lines, taking on the role [...]
CMA hoping to cut banks’ overdraft charge revenue by as much as half May 17, 2016 The CMA is hoping to halve the amount of money that banks make from overdraft charges following the publication of its provisional decision on remedies. The papers, published yesterday, show that the CMA is hoping to make it easier for account switching to take place through technology, while also requiring banks to set a maximum charge [...]