Re: The Money Thread...
Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2019 2:52 pm
That's a bit gooseberry fool.
"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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.