britain’s poorest excluded from banking turn to highcost credit
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today
Egypt Today, egypt today
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today

Britain’s poorest, excluded from banking, turn to high-cost credit

Egypt Today, egypt today

Egypt Today, egypt today Britain’s poorest, excluded from banking, turn to high-cost credit

Britain’s treasury department
London - Arab Today

Poorer people in Britain are being excluded from the financial system and forced to rely on expensive and substandard banking products, according to a report by British lawmakers published on Saturday.
There are 1.7 million adults in the country that do not have access to a bank account, the report said, raising the risk that they will turn to high-cost sources of credit such as payday loans, “doorstep” loans sold at a customer’s home, and a system known as rent-to-own.
In the latter method, a company rents consumer goods to a customer at a high cost, with ownership not transferred until the final payment. Usage of rent-to-own has more than doubled in the last five years to over 400,000 households in Britain, according to Christine Allison, financial inclusion fellow at the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI).
StepChange Debt Charity estimates 2.6 million people in Britain are struggling with severe problem debt, and another 8.8 million show some signs of financial difficulty.
Particularly at risk are those in the lowest income brackets, the report said, defined in British government data as having an average weekly household income of £130($162) to £240 ($299).
Regulation of short-term payday loan companies has been effective in curbing some of their practices such as exorbitant interest rates, but other forms of high-cost credit have flourished instead, according to Claire Tyler, a lawmaker in the House of Lords who chaired the committee on financial exclusion.
“There is a poverty premium where the poor pay more for credit,” Tyler told Reuters in an interview.
The report called on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to establish new rules requiring banks to have a duty of care toward their customers to address some of these problems, but left the definition of that duty up to the regulator.
Britain’s treasury department and nine of the biggest banks in 2014 agreed new guidelines stipulating that so-called basic bank accounts should be fee-free, in an effort to widen access to banking.
Tyler said data were not yet available to show the impact of those new rules.
The report also said Britain’s poorer and more vulnerable people were hardest hit by bank branch closures, echoing a report by Reuters last June that showed banks were disproportionately closing branches in the lowest-income areas while expanding in wealthier ones.

Source: Arab News

egypttoday
egypttoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

britain’s poorest excluded from banking turn to highcost credit britain’s poorest excluded from banking turn to highcost credit



GMT 12:43 2017 Sunday ,05 March

Jordan executes 15 in crackdown on terrorism

GMT 08:37 2018 Tuesday ,09 January

Egypt to hold presidential election March 26-28

GMT 06:09 2015 Thursday ,23 April

35 Libyan soldiers injured in Benghazi clashes

GMT 12:34 2015 Wednesday ,04 February

US drone strike targets al-Shabab Chief

GMT 18:11 2012 Friday ,23 November

Guide to feeding your 6-8 month old baby

GMT 19:29 2017 Monday ,27 February

6 Taliban fighters killed in North Afghanistan

GMT 13:38 2017 Wednesday ,22 February

Afghan Army Kills 34 ISIS Militants Following Post Attack

GMT 13:50 2016 Tuesday ,02 February

17 Libyan soldiers killed, injured in Benghazi clashes

GMT 17:48 2011 Wednesday ,21 September

Whales take northwest passage as Arctic sea-ice melts

GMT 20:36 2016 Tuesday ,09 August

30 killed, injured in clashes with Daesh in Sirte

GMT 18:57 2016 Monday ,21 November

Daesh close to defeat in Libya’s Sirte

GMT 03:40 2015 Tuesday ,11 August

Toxic algae spread in Baltic Sea

GMT 12:53 2017 Tuesday ,21 February

International airport in Vietnam to be expanded

GMT 12:20 2014 Monday ,08 September

Suicide bombers, gunmen kill 18 in Iraq town
 
 Egypt Today Facebook,egypt today facebook  Egypt Today Twitter,egypt today twitter Egypt Today Rss,egypt today rss  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
egypttoday, Egypttoday, Egypttoday