Latest news with #SantanderUK
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
About £1bn in car loan compensation at risk because data deleted, lawyers warn
Consumers are at risk of losing £1bn of compensation over inflated car loans because high street banks and specialist lenders deleted their data, claims lawyers have warned. Borrowers, banks and the government are anxiously awaiting a ruling from the supreme court that could spark one of the biggest redress schemes since the £50bn payment protection insurance (PPI) saga. But some consumers could miss out because most banks typically purge customer data after six years. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ordered firms to stop deleting car finance documents when it launched its initial investigation in January 2024. But the files relating to customers with contracts that ended more than six years earlier may have already been lost. That could be a problem if the FCA sets up a compensation scheme where banks are ordered to contact borrowers who may be due a payout. Claims law firm Courmacs Legal says that 465,000 consumer complaints on its books fall into this category, having been paid off before 2018. If all those claimants faced document deletion hurdles, they could lose out on £1.18bn worth of compensation – an average of £2,365 each – according to Courmacs' estimates. 'There is a real risk that millions of people will lose out because the banks which ripped them off will never write to them,' Darren Smith, managing director of Courmacs, said. The Financing and Leasing Association, which represents leading car loan providers including Lloyds, Santander UK and Close Brothers, said: 'We have made clear to the FCA that consistent and fair outcomes cannot be delivered with patchy or absent data.' The car loans scandal has been rumbling on for more than a year, but ballooned in October when a court of appeal judgment vastly expanded an FCA investigation into potentially harmful commission arrangements. It determined that paying a secret commission to car dealers, who had arranged the loans without disclosing the sum and terms of that commission to borrowers, was unlawful. It sparked panic over compensation costs, with lenders including Santander UK, Close Brothers, Barclays and Lloyds potentially on the hook for up to £44bn, according to some analysts. Even chancellor Rachel Reeves attempted to intervene, warning supreme court judges ahead of the April hearing to avoid handing 'windfall' compensation to borrowers. It is unclear whether the court of appeal ruling will be upheld. But consumer champion Martin Lewis said he was still concerned over how data deletion issues would be handled if there is compensation for discretionary commission arrangements (DCAs), which were the subject of the FCA's original investigation. DCAs, which were banned in 2021, allowed car dealerships to earn more commission by setting higher interest rates, providing an incentive to make loans more expensive for consumers. 'I do have concerns about it. I am worried about how it will play out,' Lewis said. However, he urged consumers not to panic. 'We have to hope that the regulator will be on top of firms who have destroyed data, [and] we are only potentially two months away from having some clarity of what's going on.' While banks were urged during the PPI scandal to err on the side of consumers, even when there was no documentation, it is not yet clear how this will play out for car loans. An FCA spokesperson said: 'If we decide to undertake a redress scheme, we will work with industry and other interested parties to ensure that it is as clear and straightforward as possible for customers to complain.' Lloyds Banking Group, the biggest provider of car loans, said: 'We do not recognise these figures shared by Courmacs, and encourage people to contact their car finance provider directly to avoid paying claims management fees.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
‘Pay here': the QR code ‘quishing' scam targeting drivers
You park the car and look for somewhere to pay. A large QR code on the machine offers to take you directly to the right website where you put in your card details before going on with your day. Only much later are you hit with the double whammy: money gone from your account, and a fine for not paying the genuine parking company. The rise in app- and phone-based parking payment has opened a new frontier for fraudsters: quishing – so called because they are phishing attacks that start with a QR code. The fraudsters stick the codes in places where you would expect to see details of how to pay to park. When you scan one, it takes you to a site where you are asked for your payment details – as you would expect when booking parking. One victim who scanned a code in a station car park told the BBC that the fraudsters tried to take payments then posed as her bank to get more information from her, before running up £13,000 worth of debt in her name. Last year, the UK's Action Fraud received 1,386 reports of scams involving QR codes – a small number, but more than double that in the previous year. In just the first three months of 2025 there were 502, suggesting the problem is growing. Chris Ainsley, the head of fraud risk management at Santander UK, says it is hard to get a full picture of the scale of the fraud. 'Unless drivers receive a parking ticket, a lot of people are unaware that their personal or card details were compromised in this way,' he says. 'When it comes to reporting the eventual scam, often the fact that it originated through quishing goes undocumented.' A QR code where you might expect to see one – on a parking charge machine, on a post in a car park or sometimes on a public EV charger. The code will be on a sticker. The website will ask for your payment details. It will also ask for your car details, but that is likely to be just an attempt to convince you it is a legitimate parking website. You may later get a call from someone pretending to be from your bank who will use the information you have given and tell you that you have been defrauded and need to move your money to a safe account. The safe account is actually in the control of the scammers. Do not do as they ask – your real bank would never request this. Be suspicious of any QR code on a parking payment machine or signpost in a car park. Check that it has not been stuck over a legitimate code. If you have the right parking app already on your phone, use that rather than scanning a code. Use cash or a card to pay at a machine if those are an option. Check the URL of the website before you click on it – it should appear on your phone as you scan the code. Do not click on it if it looks suspicious. When you land on a page through a QR code, check details to make sure it is not a fraudulent version. Giveaways include weird URLs and bad spelling. Check that the URL includes HTTPS, rather than HTTP, before handing over details. Keep an eye on your bank account and report any suspicious payments to your bank. Report the scam to the local council, police and car park owner if it is a private company. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Guardian
4 days ago
- The Guardian
‘Pay here': the QR code ‘quishing' scam targeting drivers
You park the car and look for somewhere to pay. A large QR code on the machine offers to take you directly to the right website where you put in your card details before going on with your day. Only much later are you hit with the double whammy: money gone from your account, and a fine for not paying the genuine parking company. The rise in app- and phone-based parking payment has opened a new frontier for fraudsters: quishing – so called because they are phishing attacks that start with a QR code. The fraudsters stick the codes in places where you would expect to see details of how to pay to park. When you scan one, it takes you to a site where you are asked for your payment details – as you would expect when booking parking. One victim who scanned a code in a station car park told the BBC that the fraudsters tried to take payments then posed as her bank to get more information from her, before running up £13,000 worth of debt in her name. Last year, the UK's Action Fraud received 1,386 reports of scams involving QR codes – a small number, but more than double that in the previous year. In just the first three months of 2025 there were 502, suggesting the problem is growing. Chris Ainsley, the head of fraud risk management at Santander UK, says it is hard to get a full picture of the scale of the fraud. 'Unless drivers receive a parking ticket, a lot of people are unaware that their personal or card details were compromised in this way,' he says. 'When it comes to reporting the eventual scam, often the fact that it originated through quishing goes undocumented.' A QR code where you might expect to see one – on a parking charge machine, on a post in a car park or sometimes on a public EV charger. The code will be on a sticker. The website will ask for your payment details. It will also ask for your car details, but that is likely to be just an attempt to convince you it is a legitimate parking website. You may later get a call from someone pretending to be from your bank who will use the information you have given and tell you that you have been defrauded and need to move your money to a safe account. The safe account is actually in the control of the scammers. Do not do as they ask – your real bank would never request this. Be suspicious of any QR code on a parking payment machine or signpost in a car park. Check that it has not been stuck over a legitimate code. If you have the right parking app already on your phone, use that rather than scanning a code. Use cash or a card to pay at a machine if those are an option. Check the URL of the website before you click on it – it should appear on your phone as you scan the code. Do not click on it if it looks suspicious. When you land on a page through a QR code, check details to make sure it is not a fraudulent version. Giveaways include weird URLs and bad spelling. Check that the URL includes HTTPS, rather than HTTP, before handing over details. Keep an eye on your bank account and report any suspicious payments to your bank. Report the scam to the local council, police and car park owner if it is a private company.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Santander UK freezes salaries and cuts jobs in commercial banking arm
Santander UK is freezing salaries, slashing bonuses and cutting jobs across its commercial banking arm as part of a wider shake-up that could help make the bank more attractive to potential buyers. The bank began unexpectedly changing bankers' job titles and shuffling staff into new teams earlier this month amid a larger review of the Spanish lender's UK business, where there is mounting frustration over regulations and costs. The moves, and the abrupt way they were communicated, have upset bankers, many of whom have been forced into teams where the pay ranges are up to 25% lower than before. While the bank cannot cut salaries, Santander has frozen the pay of staff who are now in lower pay brackets than previously. Email correspondence seen by the Guardian shows staff have also been warned over changes to their bonus schemes, which are expected to result in lower payouts. Meanwhile, employees from the bank's Santander Navigator arm have been put at risk of redundancy, only three years after the platform was launched with much fanfare as a 'one-stop shop for international trade'. Together the new pay measures and job cuts could affect up to 200 staff. It comes as Santander tries to find new areas to slash costs as it steels itself for a fallout of the growing car finance commission scandal, which analysts at RBC Capital say could cost the bank up to £1.9bn in compensation to its former borrowers. A leaner business could make the bank, which has about 14 million customers – more attractive to potential suitors. In January, it emerged that Santander UK could be put up for sale, although the Spanish owner has denied it is actively seeking to offload the lender. Banco Santander, the parent company, which is headquartered in Madrid, reportedly rejected an £11bn bid for its UK retail bank earlier this year for being too low, according to the Financial Times. The lower pay potential across the corporate and commercial bank will apply to new hires, and may mean that the UK bank, which is headquartered in Milton Keynes, will hire more staff outside London, where bankers may be ready to accept lower salaries. That includes staff in Santander's international and transaction banking department – which manages cross-border payments and trade – who are now being categorised as back office staff, traditionally paid less than client-facing peers. The Guardian also understands that the cuts have extended to extracurricular events, with the corporate and commercial bank's annual charity cricket day match, which usually takes place in June, having also been cancelled. Santander UK started slashing about 2,000 jobs last year, and in February announced it was looking at how further 'simplification and automation' of the business could 'help drive cost efficiencies in 2025'. In March the bank revealed it was closing 95 of its 444 high street branches in the UK and reducing services or hours at a further 50 sites, putting 750 jobs at risk. Commenting on the pay and job cuts, a spokesperson for Santander UK said: 'We are moving to a fairer, more transparent bonus structure across Santander UK, which will promote high performance at every level of the bank. We regularly review job data across the bank, and we annually agree salary increases with our recognised trade unions.' They said the bank was responding to an evolving banking environment 'driven by changing customer expectations', adding: 'We must have a dynamic approach to our operating model that ensures our teams are organised effectively to keep the customer at the heart of our business.' The bank said that involved launching Santander Navigator globally 'with a proposed new structure that will strengthen our 'Beyond Banking' offering to businesses who trade, or have ambitions to trade, internationally'. Santander's spokesperson also denied that the bank was looking to offload the UK business. 'As we have made clear, the UK is a core part of Santander's diversified business model and is not for sale.'
The Guardian
19-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Santander UK freezes salaries and cuts jobs in commercial banking arm
Santander UK is freezing salaries, slashing bonuses and cutting jobs across its commercial banking arm as part of a wider shake-up that could help make the bank more attractive to potential buyers. The bank began unexpectedly changing bankers' job titles and shuffling staff into new teams earlier this month amid a larger review of the Spanish lender's UK business, where there is mounting frustration over regulations and costs. The moves, and the abrupt way they were communicated, have upset bankers, many of whom have been forced into teams where the pay ranges are up to 25% lower than before. While the bank cannot cut salaries, Santander has frozen the pay of staff who are now in lower pay brackets than previously. Email correspondence seen by the Guardian shows staff have also been warned over changes to their bonus schemes, which are expected to result in lower payouts. Meanwhile, employees from the bank's Santander Navigator arm have been put at risk of redundancy, only three years after the platform was launched with much fanfare as a 'one-stop shop for international trade'. Together the new pay measures and job cuts could affect up to 200 staff. It comes as Santander tries to find new areas to slash costs as it steels itself for a fallout of the growing car finance commission scandal, which analysts at RBC Capital say could cost the bank up to £1.9bn in compensation to its former borrowers. A leaner business could make the bank, which has about 14 million customers – more attractive to potential suitors. In January, it emerged that Santander UK could be put up for sale, although the Spanish owner has denied it is actively seeking to offload the lender. Banco Santander, the parent company, which is headquartered in Madrid, reportedly rejected an £11bn bid for its UK retail bank earlier this year for being too low, according to the Financial Times. The lower pay potential across the corporate and commercial bank will apply to new hires, and may mean that the UK bank, which is headquartered in Milton Keynes, will hire more staff outside London, where bankers may be ready to accept lower salaries. That includes staff in Santander's international and transaction banking department – which manages cross-border payments and trade – who are now being categorised as back office staff, traditionally paid less than client-facing peers. The Guardian also understands that the cuts have extended to extracurricular events, with the corporate and commercial bank's annual charity cricket day match, which usually takes place in June, having also been cancelled. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Santander UK started slashing about 2,000 jobs last year, and in February announced it was looking at how further 'simplification and automation' of the business could 'help drive cost efficiencies in 2025'. In March the bank revealed it was closing 95 of its 444 high street branches in the UK and reducing services or hours at a further 50 sites, putting 750 jobs at risk. Commenting on the pay and job cuts, a spokesperson for Santander UK said: 'We are moving to a fairer, more transparent bonus structure across Santander UK, which will promote high performance at every level of the bank. We regularly review job data across the bank, and we annually agree salary increases with our recognised trade unions.' They said the bank was responding to an evolving banking environment 'driven by changing customer expectations', adding: 'We must have a dynamic approach to our operating model that ensures our teams are organised effectively to keep the customer at the heart of our business.' The bank said that involved launching Santander Navigator globally 'with a proposed new structure that will strengthen our 'Beyond Banking' offering to businesses who trade, or have ambitions to trade, internationally'. Santander's spokesperson also denied that the bank was looking to offload the UK business. 'As we have made clear, the UK is a core part of Santander's diversified business model and is not for sale.'
