Cash no longer king: Lloyds says 90 per cent of payments now by contactless card convenience rules Face-to-face transactions in cash are near to becoming extinct, as the pandemic-driven shift to convenient contactless takes hold. New figures from Lloyds Bank claims there has been a huge spike in the use of contactless payments on debit cards rising from 65 per cent in June 2019 to 87 per cent in 2022. The move away [...]
Lloyds profits top City’s expectation on higher interest rates UK banks Higher interest rates have lifted Britain’s largest mortgage lender Lloyds’s profits above the City’s expectations. Net interest income, the difference between what a bank charges borrowers and pays depositors, surged 13 per cent over the first six months of the year to £6.1n, Lloyds said today. That boost hoisted the lender’s pre-tax profits to £3.66bn, [...]
Week ahead: Banks to report amid high inflation and interest rate fears Market - week ahead Customer behaviour and cost control are set to be top of the in-tray for the major banks as they update investors over the next week. Barclays, Lloyds and NatWest are all set to update the markets in a bumper week for the sector. Although priorities will vary slightly, there will be significant focus on whether [...]
80 per cent of all Brits have less than £500 in their account as hordes of people are slipping into debt July 9, 2022 The number of customers with persistent debt problems has jumped by almost a third as the cost-of-living crisis bites further, the boss of Lloyds said this morning. Charlie Nunn, who took over at the finance giant, said customers are “concerned” about the economy but said he believes many are talking “too negatively” about the financial [...]
Bank of England orders lenders to strengthen reserves amid ‘deteriorating’ economy July 5, 2022 The Bank of England yesterday ordered lenders to fortify their defences in preparation for the looming economic downturn, warning the City against “excessive” cuts in lending to households and businesses. The central bank, which oversees Britain’s banking sector and the country’s monetary policy, doubled the proportion of money lenders need to keep in reserve to [...]
UK banks’ profits surge past French rivals for first time since before Brexit vote July 4, 2022 Profits at Britain’s banks have topped their French counterparts for the first time since before the Brexit vote, reveals a fresh study published today. The UK’s largest lenders posted pre-tax profits of $55.1bn (£45.6bn) last year, slightly higher than the $54.8bn (£45.3bn) registered by French banks, according to The Banker’s annual top 1,000 world bank [...]
Twitter storm after Halifax Bank announces staff can wear badges with pronouns on June 29, 2022 Halifax Bank has caused a social media storm after announcing its employees will have the option to include pronouns on name badges. Twitter users reacted furiously after the bank shared an image on social media showing a staff member’s badge, including ‘she/her/hers” and “Pronouns matter. #ItsAPeopleThing”. The post has had more than 5.5k replies so [...]
Banks boosted by looming BoE interest rate hike June 15, 2022 Strengthening bets on the Bank of England tomorrow hiking interest rates for the fifth meeting in a row boosted the UK’s biggest-listed banks today. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index surged 1.2 per cent to 7,273.41 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, [...]
Lloyds Bank to pay staff extra £1,000 each to deal with UK’s cost-of-living crisis June 13, 2022 Lloyds Bank is set to pay £1,000 bonuses to the vast majority of its UK staff to help them deal with the cost-of-living crisis. The UK’s biggest retail bank is set to give one-off, £1,000 bonuses to more than 64,000 of its rank-and-file staff, according to an internal memo seen by City A.M. The bank [...]
UK banks no longer ‘too big to fail’ but sector still has room for improvement June 10, 2022 All of the UK’s top banks would survive a major financial shock, but some have shortcomings in ensuring they fund themselves through a crisis, the Bank of England said today. Britain’s eight biggest high street lenders would be able to fail safely without a repeat of bailouts seen during the financial crisis in 2008, according [...]