MONEY MORSELS
Cash review
Households are being invited to give their views on what need to be done to ensure Britons are able to access their money. The Access To Cash review, led by the former head of the Financial Ombudsman Service, is a response to the closure of hundreds of cash machines and bank branches. You can download the form on accesstocash.org.uk.
Energy stars
SMALL energy suppliers Bulb, Ovo and Bristol Energy have all been awarded five stars for their service by comparison site energyhelpline. Scores were based on complaints numbers, call centre opening hours and customer satisfaction levels. Of the Big Six suppliers, British Gas, SSE and EDF got top marks.
Credit score
Residents in Kingston upon Thames are the most likely to be accepted for mortgages and credit cards, according to new research. Totally Money, the credit broker, found those living in the leafy Greater London town had the best average credit score at 547 out of 710. Cleveland, in the North east, had the lowest at 513.
Fake emails
FRAUDSTERS are targeting people who use social media site Linkedin to build contacts and search for jobs, according to Action Fraud. Victims are told their profile has been viewed many times and are encouraged to follow a link to find out more. However, those who follow the link will be asked to enter personal details that will go straight into the hands of fraudsters.
OAP mortgage
Leeds Building Society is offering an interest- only retirement mortgage for borrowers aged 55 to 80. Available only through a broker, it can be fixed for two, three or five years at rates of 3.34 pc, 3.49 pc and 3.74 pc respectively. Interest- only mortgages are repaid on the sale of the property or if the borrower moves into care or dies.
Fraud kits
FRAUDSTERS can buy gadgets to help them steal identities for as little as £1.50 online. For £100, criminals can get a complete online fraud kit that lets them infect computers with viruses that track every move and hack into wireless internet networks, according to the Dark Web Price Index by Top 10 VPN. Copycat web pages that look like popular brands such as PayPal, Facebook or Apple are being advertised for £ 2 and instruction manuals explaining how to carry out cyber attacks sell for around £8.
Pension freedoms
More than £ 2 billion was withdrawn from pensions between April and June this year — a new record since pensions freedoms were introduced in 2015. The freedoms mean anyone aged 55 and over can dip into their private pension as often they like. The number of withdrawals has also increased by 374 pc since 2015.