Goldman Sachs to cool UK Marcus expansion to avoid red tape December 1, 2019 Goldman Sachs is planning to cool the UK expansion of its new retail bank Marcus as it seeks to avoid the stricter regulations big lenders face in Britain. So-called ringfencing rules drawn up after the financial crisis mean banks with more than £25bn in customer deposits have to separate retail banking activities from their much-riskier [...]
Mark Carney appointed UN climate envoy ahead of Bank of England exit December 1, 2019 Bank of England boss Mark Carney has been appointed United Nations special envoy for climate action and finance, it was announced today, as he looks towards life beyond the governor’s chair. UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has tasked Carney with galvanising global finance into addressing the perils of climate change and helping limit warming to 1.5 [...]
Zopa nears deal to secure £130m cash injection December 1, 2019 Zopa is reportedly on the cusp of agreeing a £130m cash injection that will help the peer-to-peer lending giant meet regulatory capital requirements. The fintech firm is in advanced talks to secure a major lifeline with an entity connected to US-based private investment firm IAG Capital Partners and its UK arm Silverstripe. Over the weekend [...]
Ranked: Britain’s best and worst bank accounts November 30, 2019 Brits now enjoy a larger choice of bank accounts than ever before, with rival offerings from time-honoured high street stalwarts to exciting new fintech upstarts. But if the choice at times seems overwhelming, a new league table has revealed which banks score highly for customer service and communication – and which leave a lot to [...]
Natwest and RBS down: Outages hit online banking and mobile apps on Black Friday November 29, 2019 RBS and Natwest’s mobile apps and online banking services suffered intermittent problems today, with customers taking to Twitter to complain. “Our Online Banking, mobile app and Bankline are currently facing intermittent problems,” Natwest told customers on Twitter. “We’re working hard getting them back up and running smoothly for you. We’ll post an update when we [...]
HSBC and Santander must repay over £8m in overdraft fees November 29, 2019 HSBC and Santander must refund customers to the tune of millions of pounds after failing to text customers who fell into unarranged overdrafts. HSBC twice broke a legal requirement to text customers before charging them for falling into an overdraft and is refunding £8m to 115,754 customers. Read more: TSB branch closures: Which will close [...]
Russia’s Sberbank moves into driverless cars with joint venture November 28, 2019 Sberbank, Russia’s largest lender, is moving into driverless cars with a new investment in AI transport startup Cognitive Technologies. Read more: Uber partly to blame for driverless car death, says US watchdog The state-owned bank will take a 30 per cent stake in a new company, Cognitive Pilot, while Cognitive Technologies will take a 70 [...]
Barclays and Santander to cut chief executive pension perks November 28, 2019 Barclays, Santander and Lloyds Banking Group have all slashed pension allowances for their bosses after an outcry from MPs and investors. Barclays chief executive Jes Staley is set to receive a cash lump sum of £396,000 instead of a pension this year, which is equivalent to 34 per cent of his salary. From next year, [...]
TSB branch closures: Where all 82 bank branches will close November 28, 2019 TSB has announced the full list of the 82 branches it is set to close in 2020 as part of a cost-cutting plan that will also slash 370 jobs. The high-street lender is overhauling its business as it licks its wounds from a catastrophic IT meltdown and as banks across the world feel the pressure [...]
Amigo shares jump as it boosts customer numbers and loan book November 28, 2019 Shares in lender Amigo jumped 15 per cent this morning after it posted a rise in customer numbers and a beefed up loan book in the first half of the year. In the six months to the end of September, the firm’s net loan book increased 8.8 per cent to £730.7m, driven by customer growth [...]