Jack Dorsey’s Block puts £2m into Birmingham community lender breaking ‘new ground’ for industry March 2, 2023 A not-for-profit community lender in Birmingham has received £4m in funding, including £2m from ex-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s company, in a sign the local finance sector is set to enter a new phase. Block Inc, a mobile payments firm set up by Dorsey in 2009, is providing £2m to ART Business Loans, representing its first [...]
Metro Bank loss narrows to £70.7m as bank vows to put compliance issues behind it March 2, 2023 Higher interest rates helped Metro Bank narrow its loss for the year as the bank attempts to put a series of compliance missteps behind it. Metro Bank’s pretax loss narrowed to £70.7m in 2022, as the bank saw revenue jump 31 per cent on the back of higher interest rates. The bank noted it was [...]
Savings accounts: Banks under fire as MPs demand to know why interest rate rises have not been passed on to savers March 1, 2023 MPs have asked further questions of banks’ savings rate as pressure increases on the UK’s major high street lenders to pass on higher interest rates to consumers. In a letter to the heads of four of the UK’s largest banks, chair of the Treasury Committee Harriet Baldwin asked banks why their savings rates remain lower [...]
‘Shame on them’: Skipton Group boss slams banks for not passing on rate hikes to savers March 1, 2023 Skipton Group today criticised rival high street lenders for failing to pass on higher interest rates to savers. Britain’s banks have seen their income boosted by the Bank of England’s attempt to stave off inflation with a succession of ten straight interest rate hikes. The base rate now stands at four per cent – the [...]
Revolut auditor flags concern over £477m of revenue in long-delayed 2021 accounts March 1, 2023 Revolut’s auditor BDO was not able to independently verify three-quarters of the £636m total revenue reported by the fintech firm in its long-delayed 2021 accounts, Revolut’s annual report showed. The 2021 accounts were signed off this week after months of delays, following a revamp of Revolut’s internal accounting systems and heavy regulatory scrutiny. But BDO [...]
Co-operative Bank profit surges to £132.6m as CEO Slape confirms bank still looking at acquisition targets March 1, 2023 The Co-operative Bank recorded a big increase in pretax profit in its final year results thanks to higher interest rates as CEO Nick Slape confirmed the bank was still scanning the market for acquisition targets. . Across 2022 as a whole, pretax profit increased to £132.6m up from £31.1m last year. This was primarily a [...]
Revolut: Delayed accounts reveal first full year of profit as banking licence ‘imminent’ March 1, 2023 Revolut said its UK banking licence was “imminent” today as the firm revealed it had spent its first full year in profit in 2021, in a much-delayed set of accounts. The London-based digital banking fintech, which was due to file its accounts in September 2022 and missed an extended deadline of the end of the [...]
Goldman Sachs considers selling consumer platforms unit as it searches for stable revenue February 28, 2023 Goldman Sachs is considering selling its consumer platforms business but remains committed to wealth management as it searches for a more stable source of revenue, boss David Solomon said today. Speaking at an investor day on Tuesday, the bank’s chief executive said, according to reports, the bank was exploring “strategic alternatives” for parts of its [...]
Santander shares soar five per cent as lender bets on Europe to boost pay-outs and ‘ambitious’ profit targets February 28, 2023 Santander plans to return half its profits to shareholders after announcing “ambitious” profitability targets for the next three years. The Spanish banking giant said it was betting on customer growth and higher interest rates in Europe to boost its revenue. Santander has previously relied on its Latin American presence to offset the tough conditions experienced [...]
Credit Suisse relationship with Greensill Capital ‘seriously breached’ rules, says Swiss regulator February 28, 2023 Credit Suisse “seriously breached its supervisory obligations” in its relationship with Greensill Capital, according to the Swiss financial watchdog Finma. Finma said the failures were due to poor risk management and “serious deficiencies” in its organisational structures After concluding its probe, Finma has ordered the bank to “periodically review” its most important business relationships, in [...]