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1. The Financial Ombudsman publishes annual complaints figures
2. Parliament to vote on withdrawal bill deal in June
3. UK Finance publishes February 2019 card spending update
The number of debit and credit card transactions made in the UK in February 2019, including transactions on both UK-issued cards and cards issued overseas, according to UK Finance's latest Card Spending Update.
The Financial Ombudsman (FOS) published its annual complaints figures today, highlighting an increasing level of customer dissatisfaction about short-term lenders. The figures, part of the FOS annual review for 2018-2019, showed a 130 per cent rise in the number of new complaints about payday loans, an increase from 17,000 the previous year. Complaints about fraud and scams increased by more than 40 per cent in 2018-2019, with equity crowd funding reported as one of the fastest growing sources of consumer detriment (BBC Online, The Times, p33, £).
The FOS report highlights the introduction of a voluntary Code to better protect customers and reduce the occurrence of APP fraud. UK Finance has worked with consumer groups as part of the Authorised Push Payment Steering Group to develop the Voluntary Code, which was published in February and will become effective for signatory firms on 28 May 2019.
Responding to the FOS figures, a UK Finance spokesperson commented:
?The finance industry is committed to providing quality customer service, and if things do go wrong, putting them right as soon as possible.
?Increased complaint levels are always disappointing, but the industry can now use this data to make improvements to the services it provides and address complaints effectively.
?If customers are ever unhappy with the outcome of a complaint, they can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service which is a free, independent service, set up to help to resolve complaints between customers and their financial services providers quickly and fairly, without a need to go through the courts.?
Theresa May is giving MPs another chance to vote on her Withdrawal Agreement in early June, a move which is "imperative" if the UK is to leave the EU before MPs' summer recess. A Downing Street spokesman has said Mrs May has made clear the government's "determination to bring the talks to a conclusion and deliver on the referendum result to leave the EU" (BBC online). This move fuels further expectations that Britain will soon have a new leader, regardless of what happens with Brexit (Financial Times, £ online only).
The announcement comes as the Prime Minister told Jeremy Corbyn last night that she will bring in legislation implementing the ?divorce agreement? with or without Labour's support. It's understood if Mrs May's deal is defeated, the UK is set for no deal or for Article 50 to be revoked (The Times, p8, £).
Consumers made 1.6 billion transactions on their debit and credit cards in February 2019, according to the latest figures from UK Finance's Card Spending Update published today. Nearly a third of these transactions were made using contactless cards, totalling 644 million. This represents a 20.6 per cent increase in consumers? use of contactless as a payment method compared to the same period a year earlier, with a total value of £5.9 billion.
Jackie Bennett, Director of Mortgages, UK Finance, blogs on whether everybody needs mortgage advice following the publication of the FCA's consultation paper on mortgage advice and selling standards (CP 19/17).
Nick Strange, the Bank of England's director of supervisory risk specialists, has called for a collective solution to tackle cyber security threats similar to the "super shield" system used in the US (Reuters, online only).
Research by Barclaycard has found that a fifth of stores have made their returns policy more stringent over the past year to deter 'serial returners? (The Times, p1, £).
A weak spot in the messaging service WhatsApp's voice-call software has enabled ?advanced cyberactors? to install spyware in mobile phones, putting all 1.5 billion users of the application at risk of being compromised (The Times, p12, £).
Britain's female unemployment rate in the first three months of this year has fallen to 3.7 per cent according to the Office for National Statistics, the lowest since comparable records began in 1971 (BBC Online).
Germany's economy expanded by 0.4 per cent in the first three months of 2019 against the previous quarter, according to data from the national statistical office, (Financial Times, online only).
Martin Wolf comments in The Financial Times, (p11, £) on global economic prospects as the world of high debt and low interest rates could end in 'the fire of inflation?. Wolf argues a rise in inflation would be helpful, reducing debt overhangs like in the 1970s. Furthermore, if interest rates rose due to an increase in productivity, the economy could move away from 'secular stagnation? which although risky could prove to be a better world than the one we all currently face.
Katherine Griffiths, banking editor at The Times ( p35, £) voices concerns that challenger banks are being hampered in the market by the dominance of bigger banks. She calls for the government to implement reforms quickly to help boost competition, and concludes that it should be a priority for regulators to reduce the burden on these small and medium-sized banks before it is too late.
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