Bit of a stat-tastic post today all about lending in January 2010 and the whole of 2009, courtesy of recently released figures from the Bank of England. Check these beauties out:

- 48,198 mortgages were approved in January ‘10, – 17% lower than the 58,223 in December ‘09 but a whopping 43% higher than in January ‘09.

For a bit of context, researchers Global Insight believe 70,000 to 80,000 home loan approvals a month means ’stable house prices’ and experts attributed slow Jan ‘10 sales to poor weather (yes you read right) and the return of the Government stamp duty threshold to £125,000.

- **RECORD BREAKER** – UK banks wrote off a previously unheard of £4.12billion in bad credit card debt in 2009.

- £984million of mortgages were written off in 2009, double the £408million in 2008.

- In total the amount written off by banks (including cards, mortgages and other loans) rose from £6.9billion to £9.3billion.

- Total lending dropped from £13.53 billion in December to £10.24 billion in January.

- UK citizens borrowed £500million more than they repaid in January, a rare occurance with the populus having repaid more that we’d borrowed for five of the previous six months. An interesting comparison is that at £500million borrowed, the amount of credit being handed out in one month is still a long way from the £2billion a month during the peak of the recent boom time.

The latest report by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has revealed that unfair bank charges are affecting low-income  households so much that they are unable to pay their rent or mortgages. According to the report, the number of families struggling because of excessive bank charges risen from 2,000 to 8,000 in just one year.

As part of their report the FOS commented that the situation had been made worse by the Supreme Court decision to allow bank charges to remain unregulated and in turn denying millions of customers the chance to reclaim bank charges. The FOS expects 2010 to be a year of continued and increased banking distrust and is preparing for a 27% increase in the number of disputes between consumers and financial firms about bank charges, mis sold PPI and mis sold endowments.

So, that’s it for the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), yesterday they announced that they are going to drop any further investigation into the fairness of bank charges. The OFT has spent the last 3 years examining bank charges and bringing a case against the banks, presumably believing there was a case for the industry to answer, and now this.

They win two cases and lose one on a technicality and they give up. This decision means millions of unfair bank charges claims will have to be fought alone by the customer and a 3rd party if they choose to use one. The OFT will not get involved.

Did you hear? Alistair Darling’s hit the bankers where it hurts – in the pay packet. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has introduced a 50% tax on all bonuses over £25,000 as he asks bankers to pass the ‘neighbour test’.

Darling says all bankers must be able to look their neighbours in the eye and be proud that they make an honest living. The new levy will bring in £550 million over the next year which will go towards the budget deficit created by the banks. It’s expected that this harsh line will not be replicated in other countries but will affect the London based subsidiaries of foreign banking institutions.

If you’re looking into credit cards or balance transfers then you’ll no doubt have noticed that there’s a whole load of banks, supermarkets and well known brands that offer the plastic fantastic. Deciding on the right one for your spending habits is essential as getting it wrong could mean credit card charges and hassle in the long run.

To give you a helping hand, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) have created MoneyMadeClear, it’s a guide to all things financial including cards, mortgages and bank accounts. Have a look and you’ll find out how credit cards work, the costs that apply and what you need to know about managing your credit.

Playtime is over for the banks as the Financial Services Authority (FSA) rings the bell on Self-Regulation.

Great, but what will the customers get out of it? Well, we’ll get what’s as-standard in every other industry: fair, open and non-misleading dealings and communication.

Under the previous self-regulation system, the banks watched over themselves through the Banking Code Standards Board (BCSB). If we’d all been made aware of this fact a few years back, we might not be in the mess we are now; the BCSB are so toothless, they can’t even fine the banks for breaching rules (imagine the soft-talking, not-built-for-this teacher at school).

Under the new regulatory system, the FSA will crack the whip and as well as slapping fines on the Bentleys windscreens for bank charges UK customers will also receive an improved service. Such improvements include: faster payments between accounts, an early heads up when T’s & C’s are changing and other stuff that the banks didn’t think was important like listening when we have a complaint.

That new charging system that Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) have introduced has attracted yet more criticism, this time from MSP George Foulkes. He’s voiced his opinion and backed the campaign against HBOS’s new bank charges policy which he thinks will adversly affect customers.

As we reported last week, HBOS will start charging customers a flat fee of £1 for every day they are overdrawn as opposed to the current percentage-determined fees. Foulkes has gone a step further than other nay-sayers and written to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and Lloyds who own Halifax saying: “The new fee structure is outrageous and likely to cause great hardship to thousands of people..”.

Ever dabbled in online banking? It’s quite a topic this one – really splits the banking public. Some think it’s incredibly convenient, helps you avoid bank charges and saves a trip to the branch and some think it’s doing the banks work and an accidental transfer waiting to happen.

One such accidental transfer was made by Clare Logie, who typed in one wrong digit and ended up sending £2,000 to some lucky receipient. Her bank, Alliance & Leicester, tried to contact the beneficiary but had no response and under current law, the person who recived the money, doesn’t have to give it back! The comforting thought in all this is; Clare is the Bank of Scotland’s director of Women in Business so even their own employees get a raw deal sometimes.

The Post Office, like Tesco, want to be taken seriously as an alternative to the traditional banking houses and yesterday they announced a new service that may just put them on the radar of the banking public. They’ve recently launched an overseas money transfer service, but unlike services from the banks, the PO’s transfer system has a much simpler and cheaper charging system.

If you want to transfer money from the UK to abroad, high-street banks will charge commission fees and service fees, plus you have to play the exchange rate gamble game. Under the new service from the PO, customers can avoid these seemingly unfair bank charges and fix their exchange rate for a year as well as pay no commission. Considering the current malaise of the British banking public, a well-known institution offering high value services could pose a real threat to the traditional banking houses.

The latest figures from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) on banking complaints show that bank charges and mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) are the most complained about. The number of related claims has risen sharply compared to the 2nd half of 2008 despite the ongoing bank charges test case and legal struggles.

In total 854,000 banking and loans related complaints where made, representing a 22% increase on the same 6 months last year. It’s no surprise that banks were the worst offenders and received over 1m complaints, a shocking amount compared to building societies, who only had to handle 60,000. Building societies also upheld more complaints than banks at 54% whith banks only upholding 35% of claims made against them.