FTSE 100 Live: Stocks down on election day; oil back below $100 as Iran deal hangs in balance May 7, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog. It’s local election day in the UK and Keir Starmer’s premiership is hanging in the balance as his Labour Party prepares to take a drubbing in council boroughs across the country. Gilt yields rose at their fastest rate earlier this week as the market prepares [...]
Revealed: The 2026 Morning Wire Awards Winners May 7, 2026 Around 500 guests enjoyed a night of celebration at London’s Guildhall on Wednesday 6 May where the winners of the 2026 Morning Wire Awards were crowned. From 60 finalists across 12 categories, the judges chose their champions. Personality of the Year Greg Jackson CBE The entrepreneur and CEO of Octopus Energy has become one of [...]
City watchdog probes Mastercard, Visa, Paypal for alleged anti-competitive conduct May 6, 2026 The City watchdog has confirmed it is investigating a trio of payments giants over alleged anti-competitive conduct. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will probe Mastercard, Paypal and Visa under the Competition Act 1998 regarding its suspected conduct related to the “funding and usage” of Paypal’s digital wallet. Paypal’s digital wallet is an app-based system that [...]
‘Inflection point’: Challenger banks loan growth halved in 2025 May 5, 2026 Challenger banks have reached an “inflection point” after loan growth across the industry halved in the last year, a fresh report has warned. New analysis from Big Four firm EY showed lending growth across UK challenger, specialist and digital banks slowed to 4.5 per cent in 2025, down from 8.9 per cent. This came as [...]
Exclusive: Lloyds in tie-up with Google to build AI agents April 30, 2026 Lloyds Banking Group has formed a tie-up with Google as the financial services giant sets its sight on building its own AI agents, Morning Wire can reveal. The blue-chip lender is leveraging Google Cloud – the tech giant’s suite of computing services – and the bank’s existing Large Language Model to create a new internal [...]
Monzo lost one current account switcher for every two gained in 2025 April 30, 2026 UK fintech darling Monzo lost one current account switcher for every two it gained last year. The neobank registered just over 20,000 new switchers in the final quarter, but over half of this was offset by the 11,000 thousand outflows. The picture for the final few months of the year mirrors the picture for the [...]
Retail Capital has been unlocked April 29, 2026 RetailBook: The leading UK fintech placing retail investors at the heart of capital markets with infrastructure, education and enablement. Last week, the Government launched its retail investment campaign, the most significant attempt in a generation to mobilise UK savings into productive capital. In January, UK fintech RetailBook, alongside AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown and Interactive Investor, wrote to the Chancellor outlining a shared [...]
AI could trigger a PPI level scandal in ‘two weeks’ April 29, 2026 A multi-billion pound scandal like PPI could happen within just “two weeks” as UK finance firms plough ahead with deploying AI despite uncertainty around governance standards, a fresh report has claimed. The UK’s financial services sector faces a “capability gap” when deploying AI, according to a report from regulatory compliance firm Zango. The research pulled [...]
Airtel eyes fintech IPO spin off in $10bn boost for London market April 28, 2026 British telecommunications giant Airtel is mulling listing its mobile money business on the London Stock Market in what could be one of the largest public debuts on a European exchange in years. Airtel Money – a digital commerce service that allows users to store money, transfer funds and buy mobile data – is said to [...]
Macquarie ups stake in Argentex founder’s fintech as it clinches licence April 28, 2026 Macquarie has built up its stake in a London-based foreign exchange fintech after the firm clinched a new permit from the City watchdog. The financial services giant has increased its holdings in Tenora to 33 per cent. It follows the fintech bagging Macquaire’s investment last summer in fundraise that valued the start-up at £15m. The [...]