MONEY MORSELS Interest-only fall

Aviva payout

AVIVA customers who could not access their pensions and investments after a bodged IT upgrade will be offered compensation. Around 6,000 customers were affected by the problems, which began at the start of the year. Some were left struggling after pension payouts were not made on time.

Credit card axe

CREDIT card firm MBNA is to axe its Virgin Atlantic and American Airlines credit cards. Cardholders will no longer earn air miles and given new MBNA cards, without similar rewards. If customers have saved miles to their MBNA account, they may be redeemed. THE number of outstanding interest-only mortgages has nearly halved in the past six years, show figures from a trade association representing lenders. UK Finance said there were 1.7 million outstanding interest-only mortgages — down 46pc since 2012, when there were 3.2 million of the loans.

Rollover penalty

INSURERS are hiking the average home insurance premium by £32 a year when consumers allow their policies to roll over, found new research by MoneySuperMarket. The average policy now costs £118 a year — while those who do shop around each year save an average of £43 at renewal.

Mobile future

MORE consumers will use apps on their smartphone than a computer for banking by next year. Last year, 22 million people managed a current account by phone, according to industry analyst CACI. It predicts that 72pc of UK adults will bank via a phone app by 2023 and that customers will only visit a branch twice a year on average.

Money worries

NEARLY two-thirds of householders say they have seen a family member, friend or partner affected by stress over money, reports the Money Advice Service. More than half of those surveyed said they’d experienced the same concerns themselves.

Call costs drop

BT is cutting the cost of calls to its expensive 118 500 directory enquiries service. Currently, customers pay £2.75 a call, plus £2.75 a minute. But, from June 1, the cost will fall to 77p a call and £1.55 a minute.

BA premium

BRITISH AIRWAYS is one of the priciest airlines, despite ditching free meals, cutting legroom and charging for seat reservations. It came 139th on a list of 200 airlines rated from the cheapest to the most expensive, charging 20 cents per kilometre. Ryanair, which came seventh, charges half this, said transport search engine Rome2Rio.