Thinking Money | Free Financial Advice and Tips » Banks http://www.thinkingmoney.org Everything you need to know about money Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:55:02 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Public faith in banks remains strong http://www.thinkingmoney.org/public-faith-in-banks-remains-strong/ http://www.thinkingmoney.org/public-faith-in-banks-remains-strong/#comments Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:38:26 +0000 DaveH http://www.thinkingmoney.org/?p=449 Despite the global financial crisis, public faith in banks remains strong, with the bulk of people still trusting them more than they do organisations such as the BBC or NHS, according to a survey.

Overall trust in banks, building societies and insurers has risen since 2008, following government efforts to shore up the banking system, according to the Financial Services Research Forum, part of Nottingham University’s business school.

The forum asked more than 1,400 consumers for marks out of 100: banks scored under 74, building societies scored 75, and credit card companies scored 71.5.

Source: Moneyfacts 08-06-2009

]]> http://www.thinkingmoney.org/public-faith-in-banks-remains-strong/feed/ 0 Banks Pull Out of Car Finance http://www.thinkingmoney.org/banks-pull-out-of-car-finance/ http://www.thinkingmoney.org/banks-pull-out-of-car-finance/#comments Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:02:34 +0000 DaveH http://www.thinkingmoney.org/?p=368 According to a report from Trend Tracker – The UK Retail Car Finance Market 2009 – banks may pull out of car financing because of their weakened balance sheets and the badly hit UK new car market. The value of the UK retail car finance market has fallen by 58% in real terms in the last five years. Direct lending has fallen faster than dealer finance.

The weakness of the car market may combine with their weakened balance sheets to encourage some banks to exit car finance. With low interest rates already in place, the return of consumer confidence will be key to the recovery of demand. Car finance demand will return over the next five years, but not to its peak level of 2003.

The total UK retail car finance market, including dealer point of sale and direct lending, halved in value between 2003 and 2008 to a total of £22.8 billion. In terms of the volume of finance agreements in this same period, dealer POS finance sales declined by 26%, but the direct car finance market – comprising unsecured and secured personal loans – witnessed a huge 60% fall. This discrepancy shows how the dearth of credit available from direct lenders has been a major cause of the decline in the UK’s new and used car markets.

Source: Motor Trader 28-04-2009

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