Rising fintech star explains why banks are rushing to jump on the lucrative BNPL bandwagon September 19, 2022 Virgin Money recently confirmed plans to enter Britain’s buy now, pay later (BNPL) market. The banking player is the latest player to start offering BNPL products, which generally can help people to spread the cost of purchases without adding to their overall cost. Earlier this year, another bank, NatWest, said that it planned to enter [...]
City exclusive: Brits leave Europeans trailing in digital banking September 18, 2022 Brits are significantly ahead of other Europeans in their embrace of digital forms of banking. New research, shared exclusively with Morning Wire this morning, shows that people in the UK are nearly twice as likely as other Europeans to prefer applying for financial products and services online via website or app, including through online chat [...]
1,000 fewer mortgage deals to pick from as hundreds of offers are pulled in just one month September 18, 2022 House hunters and other borrowers across borrowers have close to 1,000 fewer mortgage deals to choose from than they did a year ago, as more than 500 deals have simply vanished since last month. The number of available fixed and variable rate home loans has shrunk to 3,890 – marking the lowest level since April [...]
Property guru: Truss’s energy package has helped housing market from cliff edge September 17, 2022 The Government’s action to limit the impact of energy price rises has helped pull the housing market back from the cliff-edge, a leading property association told Morning Wire this morning. But the National Association of Property Buyers’ (NAPB) does stress further steps are urgently needed to ensure we don’t see a serious downturn in house [...]
UK jobs market on course to lose steam amid economic slump September 16, 2022 The UK jobs market is on course to finally lose some steam, driven by firms cutting staff in response to swelling costs and weaker consumer spending, a new survey published last night revealed. A historic inflation surge is likely to throw the UK into recession as soon as this quarter, forcing firms to cut costs. [...]
Brexit onslaught deepens as a third of all UK exporters to EU vanish due to red tape knockout September 15, 2022 The number of UK businesses exporting goods to the EU fell 33 per cent to 18,357 in 2021, from 27,321 in 2020, according to data from HMRC. Discussing the figures with Morning Wire, Michelle Dale, a senior manager at accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young, pointed out the fall is due to the extra red tape [...]
London’s FTSE 100 bumped higher by investors pouring into UK banks September 15, 2022 London’s FTSE 100 bounced higher today driven by inventors pouring into banks on expectations of more interest rate rises from the Bank of England. The capital’s premier index rose 0.07 per cent to 7,282.07 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, climbed 0.2 [...]
Exclusive: UK retailers should copy TfL or they miss out on advertising cash, argues City bigwig September 15, 2022 Are UK retailers missing a valuable opportunity to earn money from advertising? A City insider thinks most big brands do, as he urges the High Street’s biggest names to look at TfL and copy their model by rolling out a retail media network. So-called retail media networks are one of the hottest emerging trends in [...]
London’s FTSE 100 dips after weaker than expected UK inflation September 14, 2022 London’s FTSE 100 dripped lower today after fresh figures revealed UK inflation is cooling. The capital’s premier index tumbled 1.47 per cent to 7,277.30 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, slid 1.66 per cent to below the 19,000 point mark. Traders were [...]
China in three decade oil demand hit amid economic slowdown September 14, 2022 China oil consumption is set to shrink by the greatest amount in three decades, driven by Beijing’s adherence to strict Covid-19 restrictions to tame the virus, the world’s energy watchdog said today. Oil demand will drop around three per cent this year caused by economic activity taking a hit from Beijing’s zero-Covid tolerance policy, the [...]