The payments regulator has let banks off the hook meaning that customers will be left vulnerable to fraudsters, according to Which?.
The consumer group made a super complaint to the Payments Systems Regulator (PSR) regarding the increase in fraud over the phone, internet and on mobiles, the BBC reports. In response, the PSR has said that banks must do more to tackle scams where people are tricked in transferring money to a fraudster. But the PSR has also said that banks will not be forced to compensate customers who are left out of pocket.
Speaking to the Today programme, Hannah Nixon, managing director of the PSR, says they looked at that option ‘very carefully’ but ‘there isn’t the evidence to support that at the moment’. Housing The Telegraph reports that house price growth in London has slowed to the lowest rate in more than three years. It cites a study by Hometrack which found that the rate of house price growth in the 12 months to November in the capital fell to 7.6 per cent, the lowest level for 39 months. Richard Donnell, head of research at Hometrack, said that the Brexit vote had adversely affected the capital’s housing market, as had a series of policy changes aimed at buy-to-let investors, including the 3 per cent hike on stamp duty. Meanwhile, the average rent paid for a UK property grew by 1.12 per cent in 2016, slowing from 2.34 per cent in same period of 2015, as falling rents in London weighed down otherwise resilient rental growth in the rest of the UK. These are the findings of a new report, the National Rent Review from buy-to-let lender Landbay, which also revealed that tenants along the recently announced HS2 and Crossrail 2 routes are already feeling intense rental pressure. Interest rates The Bank of England yesterday left interest rates on hold at their record low of 0.25 per cent but repeated a warning that higher inflation and slower wage growth risk squeezing household budgets and spending in 2017, according to The Guardian. The paper said that ‘the Bank’s nine-strong monetary policy committee voted unanimously to keep rates on hold and maintain the current programme of electronic money printing known as quantitative easing. Policymakers had cut rates and expanded QE back in August to shore up confidence in the wake of June’s vote to leave the EU.’ VAT Thisismoney reports that ‘farmers, hairdressers, driving instructors and cleaners will all suffer as part of a government crackdown on big businesses manipulating their accounts to pay less tax’.It points to the flat-rate VAT scheme which was introduced over a decade ago to make life easier for small businesses. In a nutshell, it removed the need to keep complex records and provided a standard rate of 14.5 per cent. But from the beginning of April next year, the government is increasing this flat-rate to a uniform 16.5 per cent for all businesses that predominantly charge for a service they provide as opposed to selling products.
Savings
A toxic combination of record low interest rates and rising inflation is threatening to wipe out around £6 billion per year of the UK’s £700 billion cash savings pot, according to online investment service, Wealthify. With inflation hitting 1.2 per cent in December and average cash savings rates struggling to exceed 0.25 per cent, the majority of British savers’ pots are effectively shrinking by nearly 1 per cent per year. Richard Theo, chief executive of Wealthify, said: ‘Britons are going to be billions of pounds poorer. £6 billion is a staggering amount of money to vanish from savings accounts each year and should serve as a stark warning to the millions of savers resigned to ‘put up’ with low returns.’ Energy The BBC reports that EDF will cut variable gas prices by 5.2 per cent from 6 January, but raise variable electricity rates by 8.4 per cent from 1 March. That means EDF’s dual fuel price will increase 1.2 per cent to £1,082 per year.
Comments