Customers don’t want to bank on Santander anymore after it chopped interest rates on its popular 123 account September 7, 2016 The news that Santander has notified customers that they face a cut to interest rates has caused something of a stir. The Spanish bank is cutting the rate of interest on its popular 123 current account by half. Customers will receive 1.5 per cent interest as opposed to the previous three per cent. This follows on [...]
Alternate lender goes mainstream with banking group membership September 6, 2016 The alternative loans market has become a little more mainstream after one lender was made a member of the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) for the first time. Just Loans Group – founded in 2012 – has become the first alternative commercial lender to become an associate member of the trade body. The BBA is the [...]
Andrew Tyrie blasts banks as they come clean on overdraft fees September 6, 2016 Influential Tory backbencher Andrew Tyrie has blasted UK banks for their bewildering array of overdraft fees and charges and called for customers to be given more information about their accounts. Tyrie, who chairs the Treasury Select Committee (TSC), also criticised recent proposals from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to encourage customers to switch bank accounts. [...]
Hong Kong follows UK lead with fintech “sandbox” September 6, 2016 Hong Kong is the latest city to follow the example of the UK's financial watchdog and set up its own scheme to accelerate the development of financial technology. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has launched a so-called sandbox to let banks experiment with as yet unregulated technology and ideas. Read more: A new corporate-backed fintech [...]
London is no longer the leading hub for this financial product September 6, 2016 London has lost its interest rate derivatives crown for the first time in a survey's 21-year history — and rival financial hub New York has wrestled it from the top spot. Investors and companies use the popular financial product to bet or hedge against unexpected moves in interest rates by central banks. Read more: Global investors back London to retain financial centre crown [...]
SocGen sells Tower Hill office to Hong Kong-listed property developer September 5, 2016 Societe Generale has sold its Tower Hill premises to a Hong Kong-listed property developer, SRE Group. The sale for around £84.5m in cash of the nine-storey office building and linked five-storey car park was formally agreed last Friday but was not reported until today. According to the fine print of the deal, the sale of the building will complete [...]
RBS and Lloyds shares tumble after Deutsche downgrade September 5, 2016 Shares in banks RBS and Lloyds tumbled to the bottom of Britain's blue-chip index today following a downgrade by analysts over at Deutsche Bank. RBS slumped 2.99 per cent to 198.30p per share in mid-afternoon trading, while its peer Lloyds fell 1.92 per cent to 59.79p. Read more: Standard and Poor's attacks negative interest rates as desperate and damaging [...]
Barclays raids JP Morgan for new boss of Corporate and Investment Bank September 5, 2016 Barclays has turned to fellow banking giant JP Morgan for the new boss of its Corporate and Investment Bank, it was announced today. Tim Throsby, currently global head of equities at JP Morgan, is expected to join Barclays as president of Barclays Corporate & International and chief executive of Barclays Corporate and Investment Bank in January next year. Throsby, [...]
Greek banking shares down after reports suggest Eurozone bailout money might be off the table September 5, 2016 Shares in Greek banks plunged today after it was reported there was no further bailout money heading Greece's way from the Eurozone later this month. Alpha Bank closed down 2.7 per cent at €1.79, while Piraeus Bank is down 2.6 per cent at €0.15. Eurobank Ergasias finished down 3.2 per cent at €0.54, and National Bank of Greece is down 2.4 [...]
Now you can open a HSBC account with a selfie September 5, 2016 Forget passwords and pins, but now its not even fingerprints or eye scanning that is replacing these traditional security measures — it's selfies. HSBC will now let its business customers open an account simply using a selfie thanks to facial tracking technology, a type of biometrics which is becoming increasingly popular among firms as a way of making [...]