The Monzo effect: Challenger banks make life increasingly difficult for traditional high street rivals February 9, 2022 Challenger banks are outperforming traditional and established financial institutions more and more, with a growing number of Brits taking up accounts with Starling, Monzo or Triodos. According to new data shared with City A.M. this morning, the digital-only banks beat traditional institutions when it comes to customer service and mobile apps. Consumer group Which! asked [...]
The unstoppable rise of the challenger bank: Canary Wharf’s retail giants have reasons to be worried January 22, 2022 If traditional retail banks have paid any attention to the latest data from the City watchdog, they have reasons to be worried, because challenger banks are increasingly taking over traditional banking services from established financial institutions. In fact, nearly 10 per cent of all accounts are now held with a so-called digital “challenger” bank. A [...]
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 [...]
Santander lures Barclays veteran Jane Galvin away from HSBC in banking war for top talent January 10, 2022 Santander UK announced this morning the appointment of Jane Galvin as Head of Corporate Clients within its Corporate and Commercial Banking (CCB) division. Galvin, a City heavyweight who made a name for herself during three decades at Barclays, will start at the beginning of February and will report directly to CCB head Tim Hinton. She [...]
HSBC gets green light to buy out China life insurance joint venture December 30, 2021 HSBC have announced this morning that it has received regulatory approval in China to take full ownership of its life insurance joint venture in the country, as it continues to expand its non-core banking services. HSBC has got clearance from the Shanghai office of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission to buy the remaining [...]
Half of all UK bank branches have been shut or are scheduled for closure as fintech kills off 736 locations in 2021 alone December 27, 2021 New figures published this morning show that the number of bank branches across the UK is dropping dramatically. In fact, nearly half of all banks’ branches have been lost since 2015, or are scheduled for closure, according to Which? Vulnerable customers are being left at risk of being “cut adrift”, the consumer organisation said after [...]
HSBC fined £64m for eight years of anti-money laundering failures December 17, 2021 Britain’s financial watchdog has fined HSBC Bank £63.9m for failings in its anti-money laundering processes in the eight-year period between 2010 and 2018, it said this morning. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it had identified “serious weaknesses” in three key parts of the automated processes that the banking giant uses to monitor hundreds of [...]
HSBC’s $94m-a-year audits may not be enough to woo Big Four accountants November 22, 2021 Fears that the UK’s biggest lender will struggle to attract the Big Four accounting firms have been stoked as HSBC prepares to tender the audits of its accounts next year, according to reports. The heads of HSBC reached out to the Big Four auditors but found they were reluctant to bid for the bank’s audits [...]
Record 267 bank branches were closed across UK within just three months November 10, 2021 Data from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) shows that 267 bank and building society branches were closed permanently between April and June of this year, leaving the overall network 4.55 per cent smaller at 5,599. The closures meant less than two-thirds of the UK population (60.1 per cent) are now within 2km of a bank [...]
COP26: HSBC makes green push as it pumps £500m into new fund for SMEs across UK November 8, 2021 HSBC has launched a £500m Green SME Fund, the banking giant said. The new £500m fund is available for businesses with a turnover of less than £25m and will offer 1 per cent cashback on loans, starting from £1,000 to help SMEs invest in green activities, HSBC clarified. “This is the first green offering for small businesses with a [...]