Latest news with #financialServices
The Sun
9 hours ago
- Business
- The Sun
Nationwide to make big change to millions of bank accounts from TODAY – customers should check now
MILLIONS of Nationwide customers will see a major change to accounts take effect today. The move will hit loyal savers using one of more than 60 accounts. 1 The building society confirmed it is slashing interest rates across the board. It comes after the Bank of England (BoE) cut the base rate from 4.5% to 4.25% in May. Central interest rates affect savings rates offered by high street banks, as well as borrowing costs. When the base rate falls, interest on savings accounts typically comes down too. Nationwide is now cutting rates on 63 of its savings accounts from easy-access ISAs to children's accounts. The Branch Smart Limited Child account will drop from 3.05% to 2.85%, on accounts where one or no withdrawals have been made. Customers with the same account who have made two or more withdrawals won't see their 1.80% interest rate change. At the same time, those with a Continue to Save account will see their interest rate tumble from 2.10% to 2%. The Help to Buy: ISA account is also dropping 0.2 percentage points from 3.10% to 2.90%. If you've got a Branch Flex Saver account and a balance between £0.01 and £9,999, the interest is dropping from 1.85% to 1.60%. What is the Bank of England base rate and how does it affect me? If you have £10,000 to £49,999 stashed away, the rate will fall from 1.90% to 1.65%. You can see the changes on each savings account by using the table above. Nationwide is not the only provider cutting interest rates on savings accounts following after the change to the base rate. HSBC announced it will cut rates on eight of its savings accounts from June 3. And NatWest is also cutting rates on accounts, while Newcastle Building Society is dropping rates on 37 of its personal savings accounts from June 5. How to get the best savings rate If your interest rate drops, it's time to take action and move your money if you can get a better return elsewhere. Use price comparison sites such as or to browse the best savings accounts on the market. Check whether the headline savings rate on offer come with bonus rates which are only available for a set period after you open them. Make a note to switch when those bonus rates fall off. Others will only offer you a specific interest rate if you make a limited number of withdrawals each year. Go over this withdrawal limit and the interest rate can plummet. Some savings accounts offer additional perks which can make them more worth your time too. How you can find the best savings rates If you are trying to find the best savings rate there are websites you can use that can show you the best rates available. Doing some research on websites such as MoneyFacts and price comparison sites including Compare the Market and Go Compare will quickly show you what's out there. These websites let you tailor your searches to an account type that suits you. There are three types of savings accounts fixed, easy access, and regular saver. A fixed-rate savings account offers some of the highest interest rates but comes at the cost of being unable to withdraw your cash within the agreed term. This means that your money is locked in, so even if interest rates increase you are unable to move your money and switch to a better account. Some providers give the option to withdraw but it comes with a hefty fee. An easy-access account does what it says on the tin and usually allow unlimited cash withdrawals. These accounts do tend to come with lower returns but are a good option if you want the freedom to move your money without being charged a penalty fee. Lastly is a regular saver account, these accounts generate decent returns but only on the basis that you pay a set amount in each month.
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Today's Top Money Market Account Rates For May 30, 2025 - Rates Hit 4.89%
The current average money market rate is 0.53%, while the highest rate is up to 4.89%, according to Curinos. Here are today's money market account rates: A money market account, or MMA, is an interest-bearing deposit account you can open at a bank or credit union. These are insured up to $250,000 per depositor by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) at banks, or the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) at credit unions. The insurance protects your balance if your bank fails. As with other savings accounts, your money in an MMA will grow as it earns interest, and you can add or withdraw funds at any time. You may also be able to write checks or use a debit card. However, depending on the bank, you could be limited to six transactions per statement period. Money market accounts may offer higher interest rates than typical savings accounts. In exchange, they often require higher minimum deposits and balances. Before opening a money market account, look into at least a few options with different banks or credit unions. Compare minimum balance requirements, monthly fees, withdrawal limits and annual percentage yields (APYs) to choose the best fit. Also, check out the conditions to earn the highest interest rates. You can typically apply for a money market account online or in person. You will need to provide personal information such as your name, employment status and income, address and Social Security number, and show a government-issued ID. Once you're approved, you can make your initial deposit. Money market accounts act like a hybrid between savings accounts and a checking account. Both MMAs and savings accounts: Similar to checking accounts and unlike most savings, money market accounts: Money market rates are variable and can change when economic conditions change, such as when the Federal Reserve alters interest rates or due to circumstances at a specific bank. There is no set schedule for when or by how much MMA rates change, so be on the lookout for notifications from your financial institution. Banks set money market account rates. The specific rate offered by an institution reflects the general interest rate environment and the bank's economics. For instance, a new online-only financial institution may offer a high rate to gain customers, whereas an established bank could count on generations of depositors. You can use a money market account calculator to see how much interest you'll earn. The amount of interest you earn is determined by the principal amount you deposit, the interest rate offered by your bank and the amount of time you save.
Finextra
3 days ago
- Business
- Finextra
EBAday 2025: Solving for low-value cross-border payments
The panel session 'Evolving Business Models in Cross-Border Payments', explored the complexity and evolution of modern cross-border payments. 0 Moderating the last panel session of EBAday, Leo Lipis, chief executive of Lipis Advisors, talked all things cross-border payments with a panel including Akshat Saharia, head of European financial institutions product and propositions global payments solutions at HSBC; Anastasia Serikova, head of Visa Direct for Europe, Visa Direct; Emanuela Saccarola, head of cross-border payments, Citi Services; Sanjeev Bhatti, director - product management global payments at BNY; and Steve Naudé, global managing director, Wise Platform. As there have been multiple sessions discussing the complexity of cross-border payments, Lipis kicked off the session by pointing out that this session will focus on low-value payments of under $100,000. The panel highlighted that one of the main differences between high- and low-value payments is the varying consumer expectations. Naudé began by outlining that speed and price are not the crucial factors for high-value payments, whereas security is essential. For low-value payments however, consumer have expectations for payments to be seamless, cheap, and instant. How these payments are processed also looks very differently in the backend. Saccarola picked up on the complexity aspect: "In the past, we had one way to make cross-border payments, and that was wire. Now you have instant payments, cards, wallets, digital assets. So this space gets very complex very quickly. And complexity is added up by the fact there are 200 countries in the world. Each corridor, it's one cross-border payment corridor you have to solve for. So if you do the math, that's about 20,000 combinations." A poll to the audience revealed that 66% of participants' banks use RTGS for the Euro leg of cross-border, cross-currency payments, 12% use real-time payments, and 8% use Batch. Another aspect is perceived segmentation of high- and low-value payments. "We always think about retail as low-value," Serikova explained. "In reality, Visa services a couple of ultra-high net worth individuals, and those payments can be really high-value. And equally, we think of large corporates as high value, but in reality, how many of them have supplier payments under 10k? [Financial institutions have] a whole matrix of customer needs that they need to be able to service accordingly." However, it's not just consumer expectations that have changes, B2B cross-border payment are affected as well. As low-value payments expectations have evolved, we have quickly taken those expectations from our private to our business lives, and organisations are increasingly demanding more seamless and instant payments. On top of that, the gig economy is another aspect that has shifted the expectations of cross-border payments. Considering all of these factors, how many priorities are too many priorities? How can financial organisations address this complexity? "The world of cross-border payments is getting very complicated," Bhatti stated. On top of traditional methods, you have "instant payments schemes opening up, which have different limits, different rules, different requirements. You have projects that are tied to these schemes like IHP and Nexus. And then you've got blockchain solutions like Agorá. And you can get involved in all of these, if you've got the bandwidth to do it, but it's probably easier to select a partner who can insulate each chain, or multiple partners, and it's relatively straightforward to connect to it." Saccarola agreed that organisations need to decide whether they want to do it on their own or work with a provider, or even work with providers for certain currencies and implementing solutions for other currencies. It's all about complementing their strengths. A second poll to the audience enquired about the biggest barrier to changing operating models in low-value cross-border payments. 37% of respondents stated inertia and complexity of change, 22% mentioned regulation, 18% answered scheme limitations, 16% stated lack of a business case, and 4% answered lack of awareness. Saharia commented: "There is a lot happening, but I sometimes feel that with all the right intent, all the greatest technology out there, we sometimes forget what we are trying to solve." For example, "the talks about interconnecting RTP schemes. I think it's a great vision, but [..] we forget how complex it is to bring central banks and regulators to work together to come up with a common framework how to prevent fraud if any participants fail? It's already very hard when it's within a single country. It gets absolutely complex when it's multiple countries. [..] While we have all these different models, we keep forgetting that there was an old world for correspondent banking—sorry, I'm a banker, I have to say this—that still works. There are lots of things that have to be done to improve it, and a lot of work has happened already." Naudé agreed that banks need to find the right partnerships for the problems they are trying to solve for. He emphasised that there are a lot of options in the market, so institutions should look at the quality of infrastructure they would be purchasing. "How many payments are going to be reachable with the beneficiary in what period of time? How are providers connected into those rails?" Serikova added the importance of compliance when searching for the right partnership, and striking the balance between "global coverage, but it needs to be combined with really deep local expertise." Looking towards the future of cross-border payments, Bhatti mentioned that the "EBA have a big role in this. I think its core strength is harmonisation and an early spot of risks. As we move towards this new horizon, that harmonisation is going to be key. But also as payments get quicker, being able to spot the risk and communicate it across the community quickly could be essential."
Reuters
3 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
BoE's Bailey hopes for closer EU ties on trade, financial services
LONDON, May 29 (Reuters) - Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said on Thursday that he hoped there would be closer cooperation between the BoE and regulators in the European Union on financial services and broader trade issues. "There is merit in seeking to increase the openness of our financial markets by reducing non-tariff barriers," Bailey said in remarks released by the central bank ahead of a financial industry dinner in Dublin. Bailey voted with the majority of the Monetary Policy Committee earlier this month to cut the BoE's main interest rate to 4.25% from 4.5% and said the central bank needed to take a "gradual and careful approach" to further rate cuts.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Sony says financial arm spin-off will secure fundraising capabilities
By Sam Nussey TOKYO (Reuters) -Sony's CEO said on Thursday the spin-off of the financial services arm will secure that business its own fundraising capabilities. "It is significant that, through the spin-off, Sony (Financial Group) will secure its own fundraising capabilities while continuing to use the Sony brand and collaborate with Sony Group," Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki said at an investor day. Sony plans to distribute just over 80% of its shares to Sony Financial Group, which includes banking and insurance, to shareholders through dividends in kind. It is the first partial spin-off by a company in Japan with a direct listing - the first in Japan in more than two decades - set for September 29. The business plans to repurchase shares totaling some 100 billion yen through to March 2027. Its origins date back to the late 1970s, when Sony co-founder Akio Morita moved to set up a life insurance business selling to consumers. In more recent years Sony sold off struggling hardware operations and focused on entertainment such as the PlayStation games business. More than 60% of the conglomerate's profit came from its entertainment businesses last year. Sign in to access your portfolio
