News of the week: Square in UK, Atom’s savings, Monzo’s crowdfunding and more
What’s happened in Banking last week
Lloyds Banking Group has announced plans to reduce the size of hundreds of its branches. The new ‘micro branches’ will be staffed by two people, who will help customers to use machines, including pay-in devices. Some Halifax and Bank of Scotland branches will also be converted
Atom Bank has cut the rate on its One Year Fixed Saver to 1.50%, its two-year equivalent to 1.65%, and its three-year to 1.80%.
What’s happened in Cards last week
MasterCard has published its first Masterindex, a survey of consumer trends in e-commerce and new payments in Europe, which shows that 6% of Europeans with internet access shop online every day. Some 41% of Britons surveyed claimed to shop online every week, with 8% saying they shop online every day.
What’s happened in Investing last week
Nutmeg has claimed that online propositions are better for clients during a financial crisis than a traditional discretionary fund manager. Scalable Capital and Wealthify also defended their services at an event arranged by The Lang Cat entitled The Future of Robo-advice.
Monzo has completed its £2.5m crowdfunding, attracting a record-breaking 6,500 investors to the funding round on Crowdcube. The new capital will be used to finance growth and specifically the introduction of current accounts from Monzo, which has now raised a total of £35m
What’s happened in Payments last week
Square has launched in the UK. The Square card reader retails at £39, connects via Bluetooth to a phone or tablet and comes with an app that accepts card payments and includes tools such as real-time sales data, invoicing and digital receipts. Square charges users a flat fee of 1.75% for in-person payments and 2.5% for all other transactions.
Wells Fargo has announced that customers will soon be able to use mobile wallets and apps to withdraw money from its ATMs. Customers already have card-free access to ATMS using a One-Time Access Code, but later this year they will be able to initiate a transaction using the Wells Fargo Wallet, Apple Pay, Android Pay or Samsung Pay
What’s happened in Lending last week
Azimo research has suggested that Europeans could avoid paying up to £7bn in annual financial charges thanks to digital innovation improving the management of their finances. The research also found that nearly 90% of consumers in the UK, Germany, Spain and France now use technology to manage their money, rather than traditional banking and accounting services
Financial firms asked for Brexit strategies. Britain’s largest lenders will have to undergo an additional stress test from the Bank of England this year. The tests will examine the banks’ resilience to a scenario of seven years of weak global growth, low interest rates and high legal costs and misconduct fines.
Klarna has revealed that 83% of UK respondents who shop online would not shop again with a retailer following a bad returns experience. Over three-quarters (77%) of online shoppers believe UK retailers need to improve their returns capabilities
