Financial

Some of Britain's biggest banks are sounding the alarm bell over an increase in the contactless payment limits to £100 amid expectations that Rishi Sunak will unveil it as part of a 'Brexit dividend' in this week's Budget.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/banks-warn-over-fraud-risk-111700684.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr

Last year, the cryptocurrency sector witnessed increased mainstream adoption but it was accompanied by hackings and theft that resulted in the loss of millions of dollars.

https://www.finextra.com/pressarticle/86413/cryptocurrency-theft-on-the-rise

Lenders, brokers and conveyancers must learn the lessons from the government’s failure to prevent the loss of billions of pounds in Covid-related fraud since the satrty of the coronavirus pandemic, according to SmartSearch.

https://propertyindustryeye.com/fraudulent-bounce-back-loans-act-as-a-warning-when-it-comes-to-aml/

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's financial watchdog must act faster on scams, its chair said on Monday as he announced that senior officials face pay cuts and no bonuses following criticism of the regulator's role in the collapse of London Capital & Finance (LCF) investment fund.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/britains-financial-watchdog-bosses-pay-160305312.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued finalised guidance for firms on how to treat vulnerable customers, completing work that began as far back as 2013 and firming up the draft guidance issued to firms in July 2019.

https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/news/fca-finalises-guidance-on-fair-treatment-of-vulnerable-customers

UK bank branch workers along with the police have stopped £45m ($62.6m) in fraud in 2020 through the Banking Protocol scheme.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/financial-fraud-uk-police-banks-banking-personal-finance-150149867.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr

One in four investment scam victims in the past year has been aged over 55, losing nearly £26,000 on average, according to a bank’s data.

Cryptocurrency investment has seen a resurgence during the many Covid-19 lockdowns, and with Elon Musk piling into Bitcoin, interest is unlikely to diminish any time soon. But, with the upswing, there has also been a corresponding spike in the volume of cryptocurrency related fraud.

Covid-19 has impacted virtually all aspects of our lives, including the way we bank. In the UK, six million adults (or 12% of the population) downloaded an online banking app for the first time during the pandemic. Research also shows that the types of banks we use are also changing: currently, around 14 million Brits have at least one bank account with a digital bank and this number could increase by almost 10 million over the next 5 years!

The UK regulator FCA announced it has obtained a court order allowing it to distribute £3.4 million to victims as compensation for series of unauthorised deposit-taking and collective investment schemes.