One in four Brits cling to bank branches as closures soar May 20, 2025 Brits remain keen for in-person banking even as high-street sites shutter, a fresh report from the Financial Conduct Authority has revealed. One in four current account users still opted to use branch services in the year to May 2024 despite their waning availability. The figure marks a steep drop from 63 per cent in 2017, [...]
Labour’s National Wealth Fund hounded with calls for clarity May 15, 2025 Labour’s National Wealth Fund (NWF) faced renewed pressure on Wednesday as the Treasury Committee kicked off its inquiry into the new body. The NWF’s ability to boost economic growth across the country was the subject of questions posed by MPs to investment industry leaders. Its status as a “wealth fund” came under fire against comparisons [...]
Post Office extends banks’ cash deal as MPs call for mandated acceptance May 1, 2025 The Post Office has reached a five-year banking deal with lenders and building societies to keep cash services running amid a continued retreat of banks from the high street. This renewed deal follows research commissioned by the company, which found nine in ten people believe it is important to maintain access to cash. The partnership [...]
OBR chair: Reeves is exposed to ‘inevitable’ shocks April 1, 2025 The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR)’s chair Richard Hughes said Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s small headroom means the Treasury has left itself exposed to “inevitable” economic shocks. The role of the fiscal watchdog has come under greater scrutiny since Reeves made cuts totalling £14bn in order to meet her fiscal rules at last week’s Spring Statement. [...]
City regulator faces grilling on Treasury’s growth agenda March 25, 2025 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) was grilled by the Treasury Committee on Tuesday after it unveiled its new five-year strategy. Members of the committee questioned the gap between the government’s growth agenda and how the FCA was prepared to deregulate. Chair of the Treasury Committee Dame Meg Hillier, said the regulator’s structure led to it [...]
Payments watchdog bosses given hours to tell staff of FCA merger March 12, 2025 Payment Systems Regulator top brass did not know the watchdog was definitely being merged into the Financial Conduct Authority until just hours before it became public and used media leaks to prepare their response for the sweeping change, the regulator’s interim boss has said. Speaking at a Treasury Committee hearing less than 24 hours after [...]
Natwest, Barclays, HSBC lead months worth of online banking outages March 6, 2025 Nine of the UK’s biggest banks and building societies were down for over 803 hours – the equivalent of 33 days – over the last two years. Fresh data from the Treasury Committee shows a minimum of 158 IT failure incidents at banks had affected millions of consumers in the period between January 2023 and [...]
Who is the Lifetime ISA for? February 28, 2025 Lifetime ISAs have been the focus of policymakers’ considerations as they consider how to reform and simplify the UK’s savings landscape. In January, the Treasury Committee called for evidence from industry on whether the Lifetime ISA remains fit for purpose nine years after its creation. It has asked how the product could be reformed or [...]
Half of UK financial firms lack AI strategy, despite feeling ‘AI-ready’ February 26, 2025 There is a significant gap between confidence and action in artificial intelligence (AI) adoption across the UK financial sector, a new report has found. Professional services firm Forvis Mazars‘ report revealed that while all surveyed C-suite executives claim to be “AI-ready”, only 43 per cent of firms have a well-developed AI strategy. Meanwhile, just over [...]
Goldman Sachs expects tax hikes of ‘at least’ £20bn in Reeves budget September 10, 2024 Many potential tax reforms have faced criticism for their potential unintended consequences.