TBC Bank’s profits soar as Georgia’s economy booms May 18, 2022 Georgia’s TBC Bank today said its pre-tax profits are up 45.8 per cent on last year on the back of fast paced growth in the Georgian economy. The FTSE 250 bank said Georgia’s economy had rebounded quickly from the pandemic to achieve annual growth of 10.4 per cent in 2021 following a 6.8 per cent [...]
Banks say FCA is hindering innovation: Watchdog not responding quick enough to tech trends January 28, 2022 Two thirds of all UK banks and financial institutions think the City regulator, the FCA, is not responding quickly enough to new trends, thereby hindering innovation within the sector. When quizzed about the roadblocks they face, more than half said they have been held back from trialling new technologies due to a lack of formal [...]
Millions of banking app users exposed to security flaw: HSBC, NatWest, Monzo, Santander, Starling and Virgin Money customers all affected January 12, 2022 Millions of Brits who use online banking services are exposed to some worrying fraud risks, industry experts warned today. Following an investigation by security experts 6point6, testing the online and mobile app security of 15 major current account providers on a range of criteria, including encryption and protection, login, and account management and navigation, consumer [...]
Adapt or die: What can retail, health and other industries learn from banks? Turns out, a lot November 10, 2021 What can retail, health and other industries learn from banks? Turns out, a lot. A third of Brits rate their digital experiences in financial services a 9 or 10 out of 10 compared to other industries. In fact, whether it is making payments, getting a loan or even opening a new account, by far most [...]
MarketFinance raises £280m and enrols as UK Covid recovery lender September 21, 2021 Business lender MarketFinance is gearing up to provide loans to UK businesses as they recover and grow post-pandemic through the government’s Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS), after raising £280m debt and equity in its latest fundraising round. The British fintech, which hit profitability in March, was one of the first fintechs after Funding Circle to be [...]
Chinese hedge fund offers £218k starting salary to rival big banks September 1, 2021 Ubiquant, a China-based fund managing $8bn (£5.8bn) of assets, has bumped up starting salaries in a bid to compete with big banks. JP Morgan, Barclays and Citigroup all upped starting salaries to $100k amid rising market wealth and complaints from new starters about working 100-hour weeks during the pandemic. Amid growing competition Goldman Sachs and [...]
Bank North bags fresh licence in its bid to localise the future of banking August 25, 2021 Bank North has secured a banking licence from the Bank of England as it looks to target northern cities with regionally focused lenders. The upcoming lender will open in October to small businesses in and around Greater Manchester, with plans to start taking retail deposits next year. The bank’s boss Jonathan Thompson explained that Bank [...]
Monzo savings partner pauses products amid money laundering probe August 14, 2021 OakNorth, a Monzo partner that provides savings products for the challenger bank, temporarily withdrew offers for new customers a fortnight after it emerged that the FCA had launched an investigation into the British digital bank over possible money laundering activity. Challenger bank OakNorth, which is one of the lenders that have provided £1bn worth of [...]
Starling Bank slims losses and eyes potential 2022 IPO July 22, 2021 British digital lender Starling Bank said it had chopped its losses by more than half and was on track for full-year profitability, as it eyes a potential float at the end of next year. Starling reported a loss of £23.3m in the 16 months to the end of March 2021 – less than half its [...]
HSBC to sell French retail bank to Cerberus-backed My Money Group June 18, 2021 HSBC has agreed to sell its French retail banking arm to My Money Group, a company backed by private equity firm Cerberus. The transaction has been agreed, wrapping up an 18 month effort by HSBC to shed the struggling business as it shifts its investment focus to Asia. My Money Group on Friday announced the [...]