Banks to tighten lending criteria on loans and reduce credit card limits Photo: PA It comes as more lenders said they had reduced the availability of mortgages rather than increased it during the past three months following a “deterioration” in the cost and access to wholesale funds. It comes despite billions [ Read More → ]

MBNA ignored the cardholder’s request not to take out payment protection insurance Photo: PA A county court judge ruled that Lynne Thorius, 49, was charged thousands of pounds by MBNA for an insurance policy she had never asked for. The ruling could open the floodgates for millions of pounds’ worth of similar claims [ Read More → ]

NEW YORK - Can’t find an ATM from your bank nearby? Keep walking, unless you want to pay higher fees. An annual survey released Wednesday by Bankrate.com found the average ATM fee for non-customers rose 12.6 percent this year to $2.22. You’ll likely get dinged by your own bank, too. The average [ Read More → ]

Massachusetts lawmakers will consider new rules today to protect consumers from abuses involving overdraft charges on bank accounts, unsolicited loans from financial institutions, and reverse mortgages. For instance, State Senator Steven Baddour, a Democrat from Methuen, has filed a bill to require institutions that mail unsolicited loan offers - such [ Read More → ]

It has emerged that Britain’s five largest banks have agreed to bonus terms set out by the world’s leading nations at last week’s G20 summit. The five UK banks that have accepted the curbs on bonuses are Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS and Standard Chartered. Under the new terms set out [ Read More → ]

In a move that could spur other banks to follow suit, American Express Co. said it will permanently eliminate all monthly fees on all of its gift cards starting today. The announcement comes just ahead of the holiday shopping season and before new rules that will require banks and retailers [ Read More → ]

It is the latest lender to offer sweeteners in an attempt to persuade borrowers to remortgage elsewhere. Mortgage Express, the specialist lending arm of Bradford & Bingley, also offered to waive fees, while banks such as GMAC have been even more generous, offering to pay off [ Read More → ]

The figures come despite official data that suggests consumers want to save money more than at any time in the last six years, as they tighten their belts to cope with the recession. Despite the all-time low savings rates that banks and building societies are offering, the so-called [ Read More → ]

In what federal prosecutors described as the longest sentence ever imposed for a financial crime in Southern California, a Riverside County man was sentenced Monday to 100 years in prison for operating a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors of about $35 million. Richard Monroe Harkless, 65, who ran the operation from [ Read More → ]

The BBA represents Britain’s banking industry Over the past few months lenders have been accused by consumer groups of profiteering as the cost of mortgages has increased despite the Bank of England’s official interest rate standing at an all-time low of 0.5pc for half a year. Statistics from moneyfacts, [ Read More → ]