POUND NOTES

■ Financial fact: Cash savers sitting in easy access accounts will find that just over a third (34%) of the market now pays less than the base rate of 0.25%, according to research by Moneyfacts.co.uk. ■ Two in five adults ‘are regular banking app users’: More than 19.6 million people across the UK regularly used banking apps in 2016, with 159 logins typically taking place every second, a report has found.

The number of people regularly using banking apps increased from 17.6 million in 2015, according to an industrywide report by the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) and EY.

The figures mean around two in every five UK adults were regularly logging into banking apps last year. ■ Young pension savers ‘heading for cash shortfall’: Seven in 10 young pension savers risk heading for a cash shortfall in their retirement, a report warns.

People aged 22 to 29 years old typically expect to need an annual income of just over £23,000 for a comfortable retirement, a survey from Scottish Widows found.

But based on the amounts people in this age group said they were saving, the insurer calculated they could face an average shortfall of around £8,000 per year, as they could

typically expect to end up with a yearly income of £15,200.

■ Charity finds more cancer patients needing help with money issues: A spike in cancer patients seeking help with money worries has been reported by a charity.

Macmillan Cancer Support said its helpline had 4,546 calls in 2016 from people needing guidance on matters such as banking, mortgages, pensions and insurance.

This was an increase from just over 2,000 calls received by the charity in 2015. ■ First-time buyers need

deposit of £33,000: First-time buyers make up nearly half of all house purchases financed by a mortgage but those taking their first step on the property ladder need to put down a £33,000 deposit on average, a report has found.

During the first half of 2017, 47% of all house purchases with a mortgage across the UK were made by first-time buyers, according to the Halifax First-Time Buyer Review.

But the average price paid for a first home is at a record high of £207,693, Halifax found.

The average first-time buyer deposit put down in the first six months of 2017 was £32,899 – equating to 16% of the purchase price.