Money blog: 'Major boost' for borrowers as two banks cut mortgage rates (2024)

Nearly 1.5 million of you have been switching your current accounts so far this year.

In fact, 10% more switches have taken place over the last 12 months than in 2023, according to the latest data from the Current Account Switch Service or Cass, which hepls with switching.

It found NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), TSB and Lloyds Bank made the highest net switching gains between January and March this year among customers using the service.

Meanwhile, Barclays lost the most current account holders, along with high street staples Halifax and Santander.

You can see how the other banks and building societies fared below...

Throughout the year, several banks have been offering cash incentives to encourage people to switch.

As so many of you seem interested in switching, we've rounded up some of the best offers available now:

First Direct

First Direct is offering switchers using the Cass service to set up one of its 1st Accounts £175 in free cash.

To qualify, you must be a new customer who has never banked with First Direct before.

You can't have opened a current account with its sister bank HSBC since 2018 either.

To get the bonus, you must have at least to direct debits or standing orders set up, pay in £1,000 within 30 days of opening the account, use your debit car five times in that same period and log into online banking.

If the conditions are met, you will receive the free cash by the 20th of the following month.

Barclays

Barclays is offering £175 free cash, Apple TV subscriptions, Major League Soccer stream and access to a 5.12% saving account to new customers.

To get the offer, you can't have received switch cash from Barclays before.

You must also have two direct debits set up, pay in at least £800 by 30 August 2024, and join its Blue Rewards scheme, which comes with a £5 montly fee.

The £175 is paid within 28 days of all the criteria being met.

Lloyds Bank

By switching to a Club Lloyds current account you can earn £175 and pick an extra reward, with options including 12 months of Disney+, six cinema tickets or a magazine subscription.

You can also get access to a regular saver account which pays 6.25% for a year on up to £400 a month.

This account does require you to pay £3 a month - unless you pay in £2,000 or more a month.

If you have received switch cash from Lloyds, Bank of Scotland or Halifax since April 2020, then you can't qualify for the bonus.

In order to get the free cash, you must switch from a different bank, have three direct debits set up and the switch must be started by 30 July.

Once all the criteria is met, the £175 will be paid within 10 days.

Two banks have announced cuts to mortgage deals in a "major boost" for borrowers after Nationwide became the first lender to offer a rate less than 4% yesterday.

From tomorrow, Barclays is reducing its deals by up to 0.1%.

Some of the new rates are:

• Two-year fixed deal with no fee and 60% LTV at 4.61%
• Five-year fixed deal with £899 fee and 60% LTV - 4.04%
• Two-year fixed deal with £899 fee and 60% LTV - 4.42%
• Remortgage - five-year fixed deal with £999 product free and 75% LTV - 4.40%

TSB is making the same move on some of its First Time Buyer and Home Mover deals, but is cutting a range of its remortgage options by up to 0.2%.

Brokers said rate reductions were "picking up the pace" - but called on lenders to do more to support borrowers with higher loan to value levels.

"Further rate cuts from big lenders are a major boost to borrowers and are showing the Bank of England how it's done," Stephen Perkins, Yellow Brick Mortgages' managing director, said.

"The competition for mortgage applications is heating up and, if a base rate cut comes in August, the market could be cooking on all cylinders," he told Newspage.

Hannah Bashford, director of Model Financial Solutions, added: "Rate reductions are seriously picking up pace with multiple lenders adjusting their offerings on a daily basis.

"It's only a matter of time before we see more products under that all-important 4%. More mortgages going sub-4% has the potential to supercharge demand during the rest of 2024."

Rohit Kohli from The Mortgage Stop warned that lenders were still "focusing on those with higher equity" and "still being cautious when it comes to borrowers with smaller deposits".

"First-time buyers need to be front of mind to get the property market moving," he added.

Are you struggling because of high interest rates? Sky News is keen to hear from people who are due to refix their mortgages, are on variable rates or are trying to get on the housing ladder. Email us your stories at sky.today@sky.uk

Campaigners have slammed "unfair" profits recorded by the owner of British Gas after it made £159m in the first half of the year.

Organisations Warm This Winter and End Fuel Poverty Coalition have called out the profits, saying bill payers have been bled dry by huge corporations, including Centrica.

Earlier today, Centrica revealed its profits had tumbled in comparison to last year.

The supplier saw underlying earnings in British Gas Energy, slump to £159m in the six months to June 30 from £969m a year ago.

But the group said around £500m of the fall was due to the absence this year of energy crisis allowance payments.

Regulator Ofgem allowed energy suppliers to recover costs in 2023 that they had racked up during the crisis, but this has now come to an end.

The wider Centrica group reported half-year underlying earnings halving to £1.04bn from £2.08bn a year ago and said group profitability will be "heavily weighted" in the first half.

Warm This Winter spokesperson Fiona Waters said six million people in the UK were officially in fuel poverty and called for taxation in the energy sector.

"It is not a crisis for these mega corporations who are bleeding bill payers dry and now Centrica has banked another billion before breakfast.

"It is just so unfair and there has to be a line drawn in the sand."

Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said the profits have been built on the backs of the millions of people suffering from record energy prices.

"While Centrica makes hundreds of millions of pounds profit, hard-pressed households are cutting back on energy use, running up record levels of energy debt and even turning to illegal money lenders to help make ends meet," he said.

"We need new ministers to tax these profits fairly and mend Britain's broken energy system."

By Dan Whitehead, West of England and Wales correspondent

A six-acre island off the Devon coast - complete with private beach, fortifications and planning permission for a luxury hotel - has been put up for sale.

Drake's Island, just 600 yards from Plymouth, was used as a military defence for hundreds of years - with 18th-century cannons still in position and included in the sale.

The island - named after Sir Francis Drake who set sail from it to circumnavigate the globe in 1577 - has no fixed guide price but renovation costs are estimated at around £25m.

It takes less than 10 minutes to reach by boat and once on land there is military history everywhere.

From old barracks to artillery batteries complete with shell shafts and underground gun-powder stores.

"It has over 2,000 years of history - the first recorded building is 1135," current owner and local businessman Morgan Phillips says.

"It was its nuclear deterrent of its day, that's probably why the Spanish armada never came here."

Mr Phillips bought the island in 2019 for £6m and has worked on securing consent for a 43-bed hotel.

By Mark Kleinman, City editor

Cineworld will this week unveil a sweeping overhaul that will cost hundreds of jobs and reduce its British footprint by at least a quarter.

Sky News has learnt that the cinema operator will publish details of a restructuring plan on Friday that will result in the closure of around 25 sites across the UK.

City sources said that around half a dozen Cineworld cinemas would begin a closure process immediately and close their doors for the last time later in the summer.

The precise number of job losses was unclear, although one source said it would be "at least in the hundreds".

Cineworld's public relations advisers at Hill & Knowlton failed to respond to inquiries.

By James Sillars, business reporter

There's a rush of listed companies reporting ahead of the peak summer holiday season.

Lots to go through this morning after a "super Thursday" dump of financial results.

We'll start with Unilever - the maker of consumer goods from Marmite to Dove soap.

There's evidence of a consumer backlash after years of price growth due to the impact of the war in Ukraine, with underlying sales growth missing estimates.

It reported a 3.9% rise versus an average forecast of 4.2%.

Underlying price growth for the quarter was 1%, behind market expectations of 1.6%.

Its shares were trading more than 7% higher at the market open, though.

Market analysts credited Unilever's update on profitability.

Lloyds Banking Group dropped 2% after reporting a 14% fall in first half pre-tax profits.

They came in at £3.3bn. The decline was largely explained by stronger competition in the mortgage market. Lloyds is the country's biggest home loan lender.

Just time to bring news from ITV.

It has credited Euro 2024 for a 10% lift in ad revenues over the first six months of its financial year.

ITV shares were down 5%, however, as overall revenue performance and guidance disappointed.

The wider FTSE 100 index plunged 0.8% at the open to 8,086.

Sentiment is being led by big declines in US tech stocks.

Weaker than expected results from Tesla and Google's owner Alphabet earlier in the week set the tone.

The Nasdaq suffered its worst session since December 2022 yesterday.

Away from stock markets, the cost of a barrel of Brent crude is heading back towards $80.

The price has declined from $87 at the start of the month on evidence of weak demand in China and renewed hopes for peace in the Middle East.

By Narbeh Minassian, news reporter

Adverts for mobile games across social media could be flouting regulations as an expert tells Sky Newshundredsmay beleaving out key details around in-app purchases.

The latest accused of falling foul of advertising standards was a30-second clip promotingCoinMaster- a popular village-building and slot machine game - featuring David Beckham.

One such ad shared was seen at least once by up to 1.3 million unique viewers over a span of 10 days in April on TikTok alone, according to the social media app's own data.

While the game is clearly marked to include in-game purchases on the app store, the advert above left out this information entirely.

That's despiteAdvertising Standards Authority guidancestating firms "must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information".

A spokesperson for the ASA told Sky News they are aware some ads are "failing to make it clear when games contain in-game purchases".

Academic researcher into gaming regulations Leon Xiao submitted a complaint to the body aboutCoinMaster, telling Sky News his research shows more than 90% of mobile game ads he examined on social media aren't disclosing in-app purchases.

"Consumers have been invited to download the game, supposedly for free, but when they made that decision they weren't given all the information to make an informed decision," he said.

"Some people, if they know there are loot boxes, maybe wouldn't download the game."

Games such as CoinMaster, which involve slot machine gameplay and offer faster progress through real-life purchases, are "social simulated casino games", Mr Xiao said.

"You can spend money to buy virtual currency and then use that to basically play a slot machine, even if you do win, you cannot convert winnings back into real money," he said.

The ASA has confirmed it received a complaint about this Coin Master advert, but said it has been amended and considers the case "closed".

A version of theCoinMaster advert appearing on social media in late May featured a caption stating the game contains in-app purchase, including random items.

Celebrities should take 'great care'

WhileCoinMaster appears to have left out key detail in its social media advert, it included David Beckham as the star of the clip, playing the game and discussing it with two strangers.

Lord Foster of Bath, who is the chair of the House of Lords committee Peers for Gambling Reform, told Sky News he is alarmed by the use of celebrities.

"I am deeply concerned about the growth of games, which have direct appeal to children, containing in-app purchases and features linked to gambling, and the fact that this is not made apparent in the marketing of these games," he said.

"High profile figures and celebrities need to take great care when endorsing products that are not properly labelled and which could be very harmful to children.

"Much stronger regulation is needed in relation to games like these and the way they are advertised. Current codes are simply not working."

Tel Aviv-based company Moon Active is the developer behindCoinMaster and paid for the advert.

A spokesperson for the firm said they were not aware of any complaints with the ASA.

"The live ads of our games in the UK include a disclosure that the games include in-app purchases as well as randomised items," they added.

"We are committed to ensuring our games are compliant in accordance with high industry standards."

Household names appear to have been a theme in their marketing in the UK, withavatars ofGreat British Bake Off stars Paul Hollywood and Prue Leithfeaturing in an ad for Travel Town.

This game includes loot boxes - mystery chests containing a random selection of items that can be purchased with real money or credits built up within a game.

Once again, their presence was not made clear in this specific advert appearing on social media.

Link to gambling?

When playingCoinMaster for the first time, the game's tutorial runs you through 20 spins - much like a slot machine - for the chance to win rewards and progress in the game.

Almost all 20 of these spins resulted in some kind of award when Sky News played.

Coin Master is far from unique in the use of slot-style games, and Mr Xiao believes games often "script" wins early on, which can "mislead you into thinking it's going to be like that".

"If you play slots in a casino, they can't guarantee you a big win on the first attempt," he pointed out.

Beyond the loot boxes, the game - like many others - offers rewards in a shop that can be bought using real money, from £1.79 up to £89.99 for a single purchase.

A2022 report by the UK Safer Internet Centrefound 70% of young people aged between 8 and 18 who play games onlinehave made a purchase, with 31% claiming to do so at least once a week.

TheNSPCC warnsyoung people can be "captivated" by the process of opening a loot box and, without regulation, could "normalise gambling" from a younger age.

"The mystery element of a loot box can make it seem more exciting for young people, and companies often advertise that they contain rarer items," the charity adds.

"They're often designed using bright graphics, fireworks and sounds which can add another level of excitement and make it particularly enticing.

"This might encourage them to repeat purchases with the hope of unboxing something similar."

In a studypublished on Science Direct last year, scientists in Spain reported a "positive relationship" between purchasing loot boxes and online gambling six months later - but the link requires "further study".

A Gambling Commission survey carried out by Ipsos Mori in 2020reported 23% of children between 11-16in England and Scotland purchase loot boxes.

As mentioned already, Coin Master is clearly and correctly labelled on the app store.

It's given a PEGI 18 rating, meaning it has an adult classification, which in this case is for simulated gambling and in-game purchases.

What does the ASA say?

While allegedly misleading adverts may be widespread across Meta and TikTok, the ASA told Sky News they "won't hesitate to ban ads that break our rules".

In March this year, three adverts on Facebook were banned for failing to properly disclose they contained in-game purchases.

These were8 Ball Pool,RuneScapeandGolf Clash.

An ASA spokesperson said: "We're aware that some ads are failing to make it clear when games contain in-game purchases and loot boxes.

"In 2021, we published new guidance on how these should be advertised.

"Following a 12-month review, this week [in May] we've made some updates to ensure that the guidance continues to give advertisers clarity on how the rules apply so that consumers aren't misled.

"Ads for video games need to make it clear when there are in-game purchases and loot boxes.

"They need to make it easy for players to understand how much they're spending on in-game transactions, and they must make it clear if a purchase is required to access certain content if that content is featured in the ads.

"Since first publishing the guidance, we've banned multiple ads for games that failed to properly disclose that they contained in-game purchases.

"We're continuing to monitor the situation, and we won't hesitate to ban ads that break our rules.

"We encourage anyone with concerns about ads they've seen to get in touch."

Representatives for Beckham, Hollywood and Leith were approached for comment.

For Savings Guide this week,Savings Championco-founder Anna Bowes explains the benefits of having a monthly income account...

For some savers, the high increase in prices that we have experienced over the past few years means that they would like to dip into their savings to help make ends meet.

There are savings accounts that allow you to take an income on a regular basis.

This regular income can feel just like a pension or salary, as it can be paid directly into your bank account each month.

On the downside, not all accounts offer a monthly income, which means that the rate you can earn may be slightly lower than choosing the very best annual rate.

At the moment, the difference is not enormous, as plenty of accounts do offer this facility.

That said, if you can take the income annually rather than monthly, you may earn a little more, so think about it carefully.

Remember that if you do withdraw and spend all the interest, the initial deposit will be eroded by inflation over the years - five or 10 years ago £10,000 would have gone a lot further than £10,000 will today.

The recent pain of the rising cost of living, brought an unexpected positive for savers in the form of an increase in savings rates - and whilst the pain can't be completely erased, the fact that the amount of interest going into savers' pockets has gone up, may be able to ease some of it.

At last, the amount of interest that can be earned is beating inflation, as the rate at which prices are rising has fallen sharply.

But due to inflation easing significantly, a base rate cut is expected imminently and that is bound to have an impact on the interest rates offered to savers.

If you can lock into a fixed rate bond now, whether to take income monthly, annually or not until maturity, you could protect yourself against any fall in interest rates in the meantime.

Dolly Parton has expanded her business empire yet again - this time with a wine range.

The iconic country singer already has a range of products, including cake baking mixes, dog accessories and greetings cards.

Now she has launched Dolly Wines with a Chardonnay, prosecco and rose.

While the Chardonnay is currently available only in the US, her prosecco and rose are coming to the UK later this year.

Reports have suggested her line will launch exclusively in Asda on 12 September in partnership with Accolade Wines, costing between £9.50 and £11 a bottle.

In a post on Instagram, Dolly Wines says the products will be available this autumn.

The number of shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales has risen to a new 20-year high, the latest data has revealed.

A total of 443,995 offences were logged by forces in the year to March 2024.

That's up 30% from the 342,428 offences recorded during the same time last year.

The figure is the highest since current records began in 2003, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Shoplifting levels had already reached a 20-year high earlier this year - but the figures released today show the number of offences recorded has now risen even further.

It comes as major retailers continue to raise concerns about the rising cost of theft.

The new Labour government has vowed to tackle shoplifting and make assaulting a shop worker a specific criminal offence in a bid to deal with the rising problem.

Primark has partnered with a disability advocate to expand its adaptive clothing range.

The retailer has teamed up with Victoria Jenkins to introduce more disability-friendly products after it launches its first adaptive collection earlier this year.

The lingerie collection featured four items with magnetic closures - a seam-free bra, lace bralette, brief and period pants.

Ms Jenkins founded her own award-winning adaptive fashion brand, Unhidden, in 2016.

"I am thrilled to be working with Primark as part of my mission to bring affordable adaptive fashion to the high street," she said.

"By Primark recognising the needs of the disabled and chronic sick community and acting upon it in such a meaningful way is going to be life changing for millions of people, and I am excited to work with Primark to bring this to life."

Further details of her partnership with the clothing giantare set to be revealed later in the year.

Sending a child back to school this year will set parents back nearly £500 as they fork out for uniforms, stationary and tech.

For many, the summer holidays are in full swing, but families are already planning their back-to-school spending.

Market consultancy firm Gekko has found those with children in primary school will spend an average of £490.80 to get their little ones prepped for the school term.

Those with teenagers will spend slightly less at around £422.90. and parents of young people entering college or sixth form will splash £390.20.

This is how it works out...

Overall, the amount spent will reach £2.3bn across the UK, Gekko said.

However, with families still feeling the pinch on their finances, nearly three quarters of parents have said rising costs have made it much harder to afford school supplies.

One third (33%) of parents will be drawing on savings, but others will rely on borrowing, with three in 10 putting costs on credit cards, and one in 10 even borrowing from family to foot the bill.

Daniel Todaro, CEO at Gekko Group, said: "Back-to-school spending is looming large for parents - and with rising costs, it will be more expensive than ever this year.

"The addition of laptops and tablets to the long list of requirements is an extra challenge due to both the cost and the technical specifications."