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Re: The Money Thread...

Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2019 2:52 pm
by Curls
That's a bit gooseberry fool.

Re: The Money Thread...

Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2019 9:03 am
by KK
A reminder to be careful where you invest...

"Basically it will mean that my son will not have money for his future".

The depressing reality for Amanda Cunningham, and thousands of others, is that a lifetime of savings have been mostly wiped out, almost overnight.

She is one of 11,605 people who invested a total of £236m with London Capital and Finance PLC (LCF).

It collapsed into administration in January following an investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) into misleading advertising.

"He [her son] suffers with autism, I don't even know if he'll be able to hold down a job. That money was there to give him the life he should have," Amanda says.

She had spent decades saving up thousands of pounds.

Misleading advertising

"That money to me is lost, I can never see me being able to save that amount of money in my lifetime again.

"I won't be able to afford the extra help for my son.
"If anything happens to me and he has to go into assisted living then there's no money for that now."

The FCA, the UK's financial regulator, first raised questions about LCF's advertising, much of it done online and via social media, in December 2018.

LCF was offering rates of around 8% on three year mini-bonds, which are high-risk investments.

But investors say they believed they were putting their money into safe, secure fixed-rate ISAs, so the FCA ordered LCF to withdraw its marketing.

Following further investigation the FCA then froze LCF's assets later that month, then in late January the company collapsed into administration.

First-time investors

Many people who put money in to LCF were first-time investors - inheritance recipients, small business owners or newly retired.

The company's administrators, Smith and Williamson, has now published its proposals about what it thinks is the best way for investors to get as much of their money back as possible.

Finbarr O'Connell, one of the administrators, told BBC Radio 4's Money Box that he hopes to recover about 20% of the £236m that people had invested with the firm. However, he added that it would
probably take at least two years before people saw any of that money.

"They [investors] thought this was a safe option, they were comfortable their capital was safe and they thought they would get a good rate of interest so they're completely devastated," he says.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47679192

Re: The Money Thread...

Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2019 10:55 am
by Sandy
Jeez..."suffers from autism".

Don't invest all of your money in the same place.

Re: The Money Thread...

Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2019 11:04 pm
by KK
After spending over an hour in a queue at Halifax and thinking ‘Jesus Christ, there’s got to be a better way than this’ I’m doing what all the trendies in central London are doing and signed up to app based bank Monzo. So on-trend is it you’ve got to send them a “selfie video”. But needless to say, it was the most painless set-up procress in the history of banking.

I am optimistic.

Re: The Money Thread...

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2019 1:10 am
by Meep
What were you queuing for? Most issues can be dealt with online or over the phone. If you wanted to actually speak to someone in person then monzo woudln't solve that.

Re: The Money Thread...

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2019 7:14 am
by KingK
KK wrote:After spending over an hour in a queue at Halifax and thinking ‘Jesus Christ, there’s got to be a better way than this’ I’m doing what all the trendies in central London are doing and signed up to app based bank Monzo. So on-trend is it you’ve got to send them a “selfie video”. But needless to say, it was the most painless set-up procress in the history of banking.

I am optimistic.

WTF? Is it an audition thing then? Or is it so they will only accept good looking 20-somethings?

Re: The Money Thread...

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2019 7:39 am
by Errkal
KK wrote:After spending over an hour in a queue at Halifax and thinking ‘Jesus Christ, there’s got to be a better way than this’ I’m doing what all the trendies in central London are doing and signed up to app based bank Monzo. So on-trend is it you’ve got to send them a “selfie video”. But needless to say, it was the most painless set-up procress in the history of banking.

I am optimistic.


I went for Starling over Monzo as Monzo seems to have limits of withdrawals, payments etc and stuff unless you are on the paid for version which seemed gooseberry fool to me, also the starling card is real and looks nice so that's a plus too :D

Re: The Money Thread...

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2019 7:56 am
by That's not a growth
I opened a startling account just so I could open a NatWest account and get the switching bonus. Had it about 3 days.

Re: The Money Thread...

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2019 8:02 am
by Errkal
KingK wrote:
KK wrote:After spending over an hour in a queue at Halifax and thinking ‘Jesus Christ, there’s got to be a better way than this’ I’m doing what all the trendies in central London are doing and signed up to app based bank Monzo. So on-trend is it you’ve got to send them a “selfie video”. But needless to say, it was the most painless set-up procress in the history of banking.

I am optimistic.

WTF? Is it an audition thing then? Or is it so they will only accept good looking 20-somethings?


It's to compare to your ID you submit, as they cant see you in person.

Re: The Money Thread...

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2019 8:44 am
by Errkal
That's not a growth wrote:I opened a startling account just so I could open a NatWest account and get the switching bonus. Had it about 3 days.


Although you don't get free money they are worth a look. There are some very nice features that make it a great place to be.

My favourites are:
  • Push notifications for money going in and out
  • Saving spaces, this puts money on a bubble so it cant be used in bills but it remains in the account so goes towards interest and if you have overdraft will reduce overdraft fees as you main account balance could be minus but if you have money in spaces in spaces.
  • Round ups to a saving space, so as you spend the amount is rounded up to the nearest £ and that extra is put into a saving space
  • Advanced notification on Direct Debits and incoming payments like salary as you see the payment as coming when Starling know about it (working day before)
  • Granular control of your card so you can turn off things if you want like payments via the card (not online but in shops, say if you only use android pay) prevent withdrawals, gambling, etc. You can also get your pin in app and pause your whole card if lost

They have some other benefits in dont use but that are nice like location based anti fraud that checks your phones location when you use your card to see if it matches the merchant or fee less spending and withdrawal abroad.

It's well worth a look.

Re: The Money Thread...

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2019 1:11 pm
by Curls
Yeah starling are great. Especially when living abroad.

I pity the fools with monzo cards out here. Only 200 quid worth of withdrawals a month? Crazy, I get 300 a day.

Re: The Money Thread...

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2019 1:38 pm
by KK
In terms of just the UK I don't think I withdrew £200 in a whole year. I’ve been carrying around the same £50 in cash now for the past 6 months. Came in handy for a fish and chip shop that only accepted cash.

I would never leave home without any cash, but it’s quite remarkable now how little I still find myself using it.

Re: The Money Thread...

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2019 1:46 pm
by souljahsstory
I spent two month travelling this year and the starling card was a godsend. Never had to worry about international banking charges. Paying for goods in the local currency was the way to go.

Only time any issues were had was in vietnam
And that came down to the type of machines they were using.

I’ve got both a monzo and starling account and starling wins hands down. They seem to also give you a bit more interest too.

Re: The Money Thread...

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 4:01 pm
by KK
YouGov wrote:As the digital-only bank Monzo prepares to launch its first major advertising campaign, should more established lenders be concerned about losing market share?

Around two percent of Brits already have a Monzo account, according to YouGov research, despite the bank only being founded in 2015. Just over one in ten (11%) of the nation have heard of the company, but this may change soon as it prepares to launch its first major advertising campaign.

To date its growth has relied on word-of-mouth and the majority of its customers are young, affluent city-dwellers. Around four in five (81%) are 39 or under and 29% live in London.

Despite attracting a younger audience, more than half (58%) of Monzo customers earn over £30,000 a year, and 69% work full-time.


Reaching new demographics

Monzo’s new ad campaign will aim to generate appeal beyond young early-adopters. While a mobile-only bank won’t appeal to all, its high levels of customer satisfaction could win people over - Monzo’s net satisfaction score of +89 beats every other bank tracked in BrandIndex by YouGov.

What’s more, Monzo account holders are much less likely than customers of the “big four” banks to believe that “all banks are basically the same” (59% versus 74%).

While many Monzo customers also keep their “traditional” bank accounts — certain functions such as paying in cheques or cash are less straightforward when there are no physical branches — this could work in its favour.

Past YouGov research shows that many people are reluctant to switch banks, but Monzo is often trialled alongside an existing account, with customers gradually transferring direct debits and salary payments at a later date if they wish.

Will the advertising campaign work?

Last year, Monzo ran a London-only campaign and its awareness score grew from 21% in July 2018 to 40% in March 2019.

Moreover, almost a quarter (23%) of 40 to 59 year olds already say they would consider Monzo, showing it does have appeal beyond Millennials. Monzo considerers differ from the general public in that they are more likely to:

  • Want to save more money in the next year (86% versus 67%)
  • Believe that banks are trying to trick people out of their money (48% versus 38%)
  • Think that technology changes their life for the better (79% versus 67%)
  • Therefore, messaging around Monzo’s ease of use could encourage those on the fence to make the leap.

I'm now part of the in crowd. :datass:

Re: The Money Thread...

Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 6:45 am
by Errkal
If anyone wants to try the Starling thing please use my referral code

https://www.starlingbank.com/referral/?token=U4EVT4YU

I wont get money, but if I get to 5 referrals I get some socks and I want the socks !

Re: The Money Thread...

Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 10:26 am
by Dual
Can these new banks be trusted with your money? Who are they?

Re: The Money Thread...

Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 10:35 am
by KK
They're both backed by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), so everyone is protected up to £85,000, and a banking licence by Prudential.

Monzo's savings account meanwhile is actually Investec (sponsors of The Derby).

Re: The Money Thread...

Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 9:44 pm
by Curls
We should really share our refer friend codes and stuff here. We could probably have an active thread for codes and stuff? Would people be game? I think I've asked this before but say people who bank with Nationwide, why not just say you bank with nationwide, and we update first post with what bank you're with. Then people looking for the £100 referrals would know who to PM?

I have a feeling I was shunned down last time I suggested this due to data protection or whatever, but surely me telling you I bank with nationwide and then updating the first post can't bring any major risks?

Money Saving Expert Forums have tonnes of referral threads. It seems to work well has made me a few bob just for recommending strangers. And I've known most of you since I was like 12, so you're not even strangers.

Re: The Money Thread...

Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2019 7:06 am
by poshrule_uk
Curls wrote:We should really share our refer friend codes and stuff here. We could probably have an active thread for codes and stuff? Would people be game? I think I've asked this before but say people who bank with Nationwide, why not just say you bank with nationwide, and we update first post with what bank you're with. Then people looking for the £100 referrals would know who to PM?

I have a feeling I was shunned down last time I suggested this due to data protection or whatever, but surely me telling you I bank with nationwide and then updating the first post can't bring any major risks?

Money Saving Expert Forums have tonnes of referral threads. It seems to work well has made me a few bob just for recommending strangers. And I've known most of you since I was like 12, so you're not even strangers.


I don't see the issue and we all win.

The nationwide one I think is £100 each and tsb have one too I believe at £75 each

Re: The Money Thread...

Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2019 7:58 am
by Joer
Yeah, Nationwide is £100 for both parties and Monzo is £5 for both parties. I didn’t get any switching bonus when I switched to Santander. Although they’re the only current accounts I have so I can’t vouch for any others!