Pocket money... Labour vows to ban “rip-off” renewals
⬤ The Labour Party has vowed to ban “rip-off” subscriptions that automatically renew, if it wins the next election, says The Mirror. New laws will force businesses to offer customers the option for manual renewal – where they must agree to renew each time payment is taken – although they will still be able to consent to automatic renewal if they wish.
At present, customers only need to be informed that a renewal payment will be taken – by direct debit or continuous payment authority on a credit card – and may have to actively cancel if they no longer want the service. Britons spent £500m on subscriptions that renewed without them realising in 2021, and more than £300m on unused subscriptions, according to research by Citizens Advice.
⬤ Investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown has cut fees for regular investors, says This is Money. Customers who make monthly investments into shares, investment trusts and exchange-traded funds by direct debit will no longer be charged a £1.50 dealing fee. Automatically reinvesting dividends from shares will also now be fee-free. Doing this previously carried a 1% fee, with a minimum of £1 and a maximum of £10.
Fee competition between platforms may be heating up. Last month, Hargreaves Lansdown removed custody and dealing charges on its Junior Isa and cut the custody fee on its Lifetime Isa from 0.45% to 0.25% per annum. Interactive Investor launched an Investor Essentials tariff in February, which lowers its monthly fee for customers with up to £30,000 to £4.99, down from £9.99 previously.
⬤ Barclaycard has relaunched a double sign-up bonus offer on its two Avios cards, says
Head for Points. Avios is the airmiles scheme for British Airways and a few other airlines. Apply for the Avios Plus card (£20 monthly fee) by 30 May, and get 50,000 Avios if you spend £3,000 in three months, up from 25,000. The fee-free Avios card will give 10,000 points for spending £1,000, up from 5,000 normally.
American Express is also offering 60,000 points (up from 30,000) for spending £6,000 in six months on its Platinum card (£575 annual fee), plus £200 travel credit, for applications by 13 June. These convert 1:1 into Avios and into several other airmiles and hotel schemes.