Royal Bank of Scotland is looking to launch a standalone digital-only bank called Bo, with it believed that it will be pitched as a rival to challenger banks such as Monzo, Revolut and Starling Bank. It is expected to launch in 2019, with the aim of migrating 1m NatWest customers to the mobile platform. Bo, which will be overseen by former RBS COO Mark Bailie, is expected to utilise artificial intelligence to help customers manage their financial affairs.
The Daily Telegraph

The Scottish specialist lending market is set to double in size next year due to the influx of new lenders with much improved criteria, product choice and rates, predicts Your Expert Group. The Glasgow-based specialist finance broker said that, due to a saturated specialist lending sector in England, challenger banks and alternative finance providers were looking at new markets; it added that, in the fourth quarter alone, four new complex residential and BTL challenger lenders are due to open their doors to Scottish brokers and borrowers.
Bridging and Commercial

Peer-to-peer lender Funding Circle has narrowed the price range of its IPO to 440p-460p, from an initial 420p-530p, due to a lower level of interest in the offering than initially anticipated. Funding Circle is looking to raise around £300m when it lists on the main market of the London Stock Exchange next month.
P2P Finance News

Theresa May says unexplained-wealth orders are already deterring potential criminals from using the UK as a haven for dirty money. The prime minister said the threat posed by the legislation “has actually meant some people have changed their behaviour and are now playing by the rules.”
Financial Times

RBS chief executive Ross McEwan predicts Britain’s challenger banks will struggle to compete against the resurgent big six lenders. Mr McEwan said small lenders would come under pressure as larger rivals such as RBS picked up speed after a decade of hefty restructuring and misconduct costs. His comments come as challenger banks prepare to be briefed on Thursday on the details of a contest for £833m of funding, provided by RBS, designed to boost competition in business banking.
The Daily Telegraph

Frankfurt has attracted jobs from Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, among others, winning the race to attract the banking jobs leaving London because of Brexit, according to a fresh survey by German-headquartered bank Helaba. Paris has gained from Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and HSBC.
City AM

The Sunday Times reports that restructuring specialists are looking at the peer-to-peer lending sector for signs of weakness, as speculation mounts about the sector will cope when the next recession hits. Figures from AltFi show that the platforms will lend more than £7.5bn to consumers and small firms this year – with 75% coming from the three biggest operators in the sector: Funding Circle, RateSetter and Zopa. Experts said they are worried that heavy losses at one platform could spread across the industry and drain confidence.
The Sunday Times

Experts have warned that Bitcoin-using millennials could be harmed throughout their investing lives by developing dangerous savings habits. Patrick Connolly of financial adviser Chase de Vere commented: “It is almost impossible for investors to understand the mechanics behind crypto investments and there is no protection in place if it all goes wrong”.
The Daily Telegraph

Research from consumer group Which? has revealed that nearly 3,000 high street bank and building society branches have shut since 2014. Jenni Allen, managing director of Which? Money, commented: “The rate at which free-to-use cashpoints are closing is alarming. Plastic cards may have overtaken cash as the most commonly used payment method but 2.7m British adults rely almost wholly on cash.” George McNamara, director of policy at charity Independent Age, noted: “With increasingly large distances between bank branches, this can cause difficulties for customers who rely on public transport. Banks must ensure that all customers can access services, advice and offers using their preferred method of communication, whether that be over the internet, on the phone or in person.”
Daily Express

UK Finance’s SME update for Q2 2018 reveals banks approved eight out of 10 applications for SME finance during Q2 2018. The figures show that 69,300 of new SME loans were approved by banks for a value of £7.1bn – a far higher figure than the £15m that the bank referral scheme has provided to SMEs since it launched almost two years ago. However, despite the 80% approval rate by banks in Q2, Colin Goldstein, head of strategic partnerships at iwoca, said securing credit remained one of the biggest challenges for a growing small business. He added: “Making access to capital seamless and hassle free, relieving owners of the burden of extra financial paperwork and eliminating wasted time will see SMEs regain their confidence.”
Bridging and Commercial

Age Scotland has said that mass bank closures are “unacceptable” for older people and innovative solutions like shared banking should be introduced. Following a bank closure debate at Holyrood, Age Scotland called on banks to introduce measures to alleviate the loss of local branches. Brian Sloan, Age Scotland’s CEO, said: “Physical branches are important to older people. They prefer having a face-to-face conversation about their finances with a real person.” Meanwhile, the cross-party Scottish Affairs Committee has accused the UK Government of “burying its head in the sand” after refusing to use its majority stake in RBS to halt the branch closures programme.
The Scotsman

Delphine Gény-Stephann, the French junior economy and finance minister, has launched a new government-backed tech incubator to lure thousands of UK financial technology jobs to France. The incubator offers companies support with funding and strategies, and also offers foreign companies “relocation packages”.
The Daily Telegraph

A poll by the British Business Bank reveals that a third of British small business owners would like to expand but do not know how to go about securing finance. Only 5% considered bringing in a business angel and 7% thought about crowdfunding. Over half those surveyed said they expect their business to grow over the next 12 months. A separate survey for Hitachi’s financing arm found two-thirds of small businesses plan to expand in the next three years.
The Sun

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has argued a housing tax overhaul, including ending stamp duty on certain properties, could rebalance the market and “reignite activity”. It said the Government should look at what changes are needed to create a more vibrant property sector with a full-scale review of the stamp duty system.
Yorkshire Post

Geoffrey Yu, head of UK investment for UBS Wealth Management, has said that he does not expect house prices to collapse following Britain’s exit from the EU, despite warnings from Mark Carney that they could plummet by as much as 35% if there is a “disorderly” Brexit. Mr Yu said that UBS expected a Brexit deal to be struck between the UK and the European bloc, meaning house prices will remain stable.
Daily Express

Mortgage rates have remained largely static since the Bank of England raised the base rate from 0.5% to 0.75%, according to information website Moneyfacts, with two-year fixes dropping to an average 2.51% from 2.52% the day after the decision in August. The difference for two-year fixes, between September 2017 and September this year, is only around 0.31 percentage points – from 2.20 to 2.51% respectively. Meanwhile, the proportion of savings accounts on the market paying above the Bank of England base rate has sunk to a five-year low, analysis has found. Just over two-thirds of savings accounts pay a rate above 0.75 per cent, Moneyfacts found.
Daily Mail

The proportion of homes sold to landlords has reached the lowest level since January 2010, according to Hamptons International. In August 9.9% of sold homes were bought by landlords, compared with an average of 17.6% in the year until April 2016, when a stamp duty surcharge on the purchase of additional homes was introduced. Landlords are now being offered more attractive deals on BTL mortgages, and there are also a record number of mortgages for first-time landlords.
The Times

Lloyds Banking Group is to close a further 15 branches as it presses ahead with plans to streamline the business. A Lloyds spokesman said: “These branch closures are in response to changing customer behaviour and the reduced number of transactions being made in branches. All branches announced for closure have a Post Office less than half a mile away, so customers can still access their banking locally.”
The Daily Telegraph

Cash machine network co-ordinator Link has provided figures showing that more than 250 free-to-use ATMs are disappearing a month as operators shut unprofitable ones. There are around 53,000 free machines in the UK – but the number is shrinking at a record rate as people use less cash. The Payment Systems Regulator is cracking down on the closures and asking for more network protection. Managing director Hannah Nixon said: “The requirements we intend to place on Link will help ensure that Link achieves their commitment to protecting the geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs across the UK.”
BBC News

Remortgaging spiked to its highest level in more than a decade in July, according to data from UK Finance, with around 46,900 new homeowner remortgages completed – up 23.1% compared with the same month last year. Total remortgaging deals worth £8.7bn were completed in the month. First-time buyer mortgages completed in July edged up 1%, to 31,400, with the average loan standing at £145,000. Around 14,700 new buy-to-let remortgages were completed in the month, marking a 7.3% increase on July 2017.
Daily Mail