Millions of Britons are either dipping into their savings or getting into debt as their incomes are being dented by the coronavirus pandemic, a new survey has showed. Nearly a third of people in the UK have had to dip into their savings while a fifth have taken on debt, with the younger generations the … Read more
Stick or twist: NS&I fixed-rate savings cuts bite – should you stay… or cash out and move your money elsewhere? NS&I cut 10 fixed-rate accounts available to existing savers on 1 May It changed course on Premium Bond cuts but has stuck with these They affect savers renewing after 1 June or changing to a … Read more
Victory! The Treasury will now allow aspiring first-time buyers to tap into their Lifetime Isas without penalty – just days after we raised concerns On Tuesday, we reported young savers would be penalised The DWP expects people to use Lifetime Isa cash before they can get benefits But the Treasury did not adjust the 25% … Read more
Nationwide Building Society lost its current switching crown to digital challenger Monzo in the final three months of last year, new figures show. Furthermore, the highest number of people in four years switched their bank accounts in March, according to the Current Account Switch Service. It found 113,037 people switched accounts last month, the most … Read more
One in three of us has Premium Bonds, and so is in with a chance of winning the £1 million top prize every month. The bonds, which offer savers prize draw rewards rather than interest, are the nation’s favourite savings product, with 21 million holders. And after National Savings & Investments (NS&I) this month abandoned … Read more
Now banks target their LOYAL savers with cuts four times bigger than the Bank of England base rate fall Official base rate was reduced by 0.65 percentage points last month to 0.1% Readers say banks have responded with rate cuts of up to 2.5 percentage points Nationwide, Yorkshire, Co-op Bank and Santander have dished out … Read more
Thousands of aspiring first-time home buyers who run into financial trouble due to the coronavirus pandemic could have to pay the Government hundreds of pounds to access house deposits before they are eligible for benefits. The Department for Work and Pensions says Lifetime Isa savings are included in the means test for Universal Credit, but … Read more
Thousands more people are turning to digital cheque scanning as banks encourage them to stay at home and not visit branches, new data suggests. Figures from HSBC and Lloyds, two of Britain’s big four high street banks, revealed the numbers of cheques being digitally deposited using mobile banking apps has surged, while branch footfall has … Read more
Top 5% savings rates will soon be extinct as Nationwide cuts interest on its FlexDirect current account – but there is one last chance to hunt it down… Nationwide’s FlexDirect account pays 5% interest for 12 months on up to £2,500 It is the last 5% savings deal in Britain, but will be cut to … Read more
A Bank of England scheme designed to provide banks with cheap money to lend to small businesses has handed out an enormous £6billion in its first week, official figures reveal. In an announcement which revealed the speed and scale of the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus, the sum pumped into banks in the first … Read more