London-based digital lender for the wealthy gets UK banking licence October 8, 2020 A London-based digital lender targeting Britain’s affluent savings market, has received a restricted banking licence from UK regulators. Monument, which is targeting professionals, entrepreneurs and investors with a net worth of £250,000 to £5m, received an “authorisation with restriction” licence this week. The fintech, which is planning to launch in 2021, said it will offer [...]
Staff at British banks ‘forced to turn off NHS Covid tracing app at work’ October 8, 2020 Branch staff at some of the UK’s biggest banks say they are being put at risk by rules that require them to keep their phones in lockers at work, leaving them unable to use the NHS Covid-19 contact tracing app. Lloyds and TSB are among the lenders advising employees in branch to deactivate the contact [...]
Barclays teams up with rugby ref Nigel Owens to launch £250m agri-tech fund October 7, 2020 Barclays has teamed up with world-renowned rugby referee Nigel Owens to launch a £250m fund to help farmers make their businesses carbon neutral. The new funding comes as research showed that 83 per cent of UK farmers said they could achieve net zero by 2035, five years before the deadline set by the farming union. [...]
Banking industry group UK Finance names David Postings as new boss October 7, 2020 UK Finance, the banking lobby group, has appointed David Postings as its new chief executive to help steer the industry through the Covid-19 crisis. Postings, who recently stepped down as global chief executive of Bibby Financial Services, will take up the role at the start of next year, UK Finance said. He had previously held [...]
London house prices: These capital commuter towns have seen the largest rises October 6, 2020 House prices in Greater London have edged higher in the past 12 months even as the outbreak of coronavirus posed fresh challenges for buying and selling property. Figures from Barclays Mortgages’ postcode property index have revealed the postcodes in the capital which have seen the fastest house price growth over the past 12 months. And [...]
Bank of England’s Haskel keeps door open to negative rates October 5, 2020 Bank of England (BoE) rate-setter Jonathan Haskel sees some possible benefits from cutting interest rates below zero, though it was too soon to reach a firm conclusion on this. The BoE, which cut interest rates to a record-low 0.1% in March, is now looking at whether it is technically feasible to cut its main interest [...]
Worst September on record for new car registrations October 5, 2020 New car registration fell to their lowest level since records began in September in a further blow for the battered auto industry. Just 328,041 cars were registered last month, down 4.4 per cent lower year-on-year, new figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) showed. That’s the weakest performance since the introduction of [...]
London fintech Currensea launches product for small businesses October 5, 2020 London-based fintech Currensea has today launched a debit card for SMEs, built on open banking, to help with overseas transactions. The first-of-its-kind debit card enables small businesses to make international transactions through their existing bank account without any bank charges and with low fees competitive with leading challenger banks. The new Mastercard, which costs just [...]
Coronavirus: Is the UK set to shake-up quarantine-free travel rules and finally begin airport testing for arrivals? October 4, 2020 The UK Government is set to make an announcement on airport testing “in the coming days,” as the list of quarantine-free travel options diminishes Airport testing is a “key priority,” Barclay told Heathrow boss John Holland-Kaye this week at the Conservative Party Conference, which is currently being held virtually. While many other countries and airlines have [...]
Exclusive: MPs slam ‘inconsistency and incompetence’ as SMEs struggle to get bounce back loans September 28, 2020 Banks have been told to ensure that no small businesses are “locked out” of government-backed coronavirus loans, after firms were left unable to access the loans despite being eligible for funding. MPs said lenders accredited under the scheme should re-open applications for bounce back loans (BBLs), designed to help small companies weather the pandemic. Barclays [...]