Business

Nationwide Building Society savers are being urged to act fast if they want to qualify for a potential £100 payout under its Fairer Share Payment scheme in 2026.Last year, 4 million members shared £400 million, up from £385 million for 3.85 million members the year before. That means around £1 in every £10 Nationwide pays out goes straight back to its customers. While Nationwide has yet to confirm 2026’s scheme, the eligibility rules from previous years provide a clear guide.To qualify, members typically need:For savings or mortgages, the minimum requirement has historically been £100 at the end of any day in March.Extra steps for FlexAccount, FlexDirect and FlexBasic holdersIf you hold a FlexAccount, FlexDirect or FlexBasic account, there’s a key hurdle. In two out of three months – Ja...

The banks are paying customers who switch to them £100s (stock image) (Image: Getty )Several major high street banks are offering customers substantial cash incentives through their latest current account switching schemes. The team of financial experts at Martin Lewis' MoneySavingExpert (MSE) has compiled a list detailing which banks are providing complimentary payments and the eligibility criteria.Certain customers could receive up to £500, though this varies depending on which bank they opt to switch to. Lloyds, Barclays and Santander are amongst the banks presently offering £100s to current account holders who transfer to them.According to MSE, the most generous switching bonus is the Lloyds Bank Premier current account, which provides £500 to those who switch, although it targets h...

I despair of Rachel Reeves. Every time I think things can’t get worse, she hits new levels of daftness. And so do the people behind her. Their ideas are just as batty, and they’re destroying the economy. Not only that, they’re smashing livelihoods. Around 1,000 British jobs vanish every single day, all thanks to Labour. The party that pledged to back “working people” is now waging all-out war on them. Not just by hammering them with record taxes, but by making them too costly to employ.When Reeves entered number 11, unemployment was 4.1%. Today it’s 5.2%, wiping out almost half a million jobs. JP Morgan forecasts it will hit 5.5% by spring. Its chief UK economist Allan Monks blames two disastrous decisions. First, Reeves's employer's National Insurance hike in her October 2024, which he...

Millions of UK households are in with a chance of winning free energy as British Gas has a giveaway worth over £1,000. The energy company is offering one of its customers the chance to win a year’s worth of energy valued at £1,748.The exciting giveaway is open to all customers of its membership scheme, which is entirely free to join. Customers must also opt in to the prize draw to be in with a chance of winning.British Gas offers a number of members-only offers, including money off repairs and servicing. And all customers need to do to make use of it is register for the membership online or via the app.You will also find prizes and giveaways in the membership wallet, including the latest “Win Your Bill” draw that is offering a free year’s worth of energy. Customers who would like to be ...

A surge in support for a petition calling for the lowest income tax band to be unfrozen is putting pressure on Rachel Reeves (Image: Getty Images)A campaign demanding an increase to the income tax threshold has reached a significant landmark, placing mounting pressure on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to adjust the personal tax allowance for Britain's lowest-paid employees in the spring statement on March 3.Alarm is mounting that millions of additional people, including many of the country's poorest earners, have been ensnared by the tax system through 'fiscal drag'. This results from the basic income tax threshold being held at £12,570 since 2021, whilst inflation, which affects salaries, has been rising sharply.Consequently, some of Britain's most vulnerable workers face taxation the moment...

A family-run UK furniture company has collapsed into liquidation, a notice in the Gazette has confirmed. It joins several other businesses that have made similar moves in recent weeks, as the current economic climate proves difficult for many. Other firms have blamed rising business costs and higher material prices as contributing factors in liquidations and administrations.Valiant Furniture Ltd entered liquidation on February 20, according to an official notice published today (February 25). The company, based in Wigan, Lancashire, was appointed joint liquidators, Rikki Burton of Anderson Brookes Insolvency Practitioners Limited and Jasmine Baxter of Anderson Brookes Insolvency Practitioners Limited. The company has not released a statement about the liquidation. It manufactures furnit...

Households to see energy bills fall by 7% as regulator lowers price cap (Image: Getty)Households will see energy bills fall by about 6.6% from April, as the regulator prepares to lower the price cap in line with the Government’s promised £150 reduction. Households on default energy tariffs will also see bills fall by 7 %. Ofgem said the annual bill for a typical dual-fuel household paying by Direct Debit will drop by £117 to £1,641 between April 1 and June 30 2026 — equivalent to a saving of around £10 a month.The new level is £208, or 11 %, lower than the same period last year. Under the revised cap, customers on standard variable tariffs paying by Direct Debit will pay an average of 24.67p per kilowatt hour (kWh) for electricity, with a daily standing charge of 57.21p. Gas will cost a...

‘The Big Money Show’ panel reacts to growing backlash over alleged debanking as lawmakers warn major banks may be cutting off Americans for political or ideological reasons. The Trump administration is mulling an executive order or a different action that would have banks collecting citizenship information from their customers, according to reports. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Treasury Department officials have discussed steps that could have banks gathering citizenship information from customers in a move that would align with Trump’s crackdown on immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.According to sources familiar with the matter, the action could ultimately direct banks to request an unprecedented new category of documents — such as a passport — from customers...

NS&I is changing the rules for Premium Bonds (Image: Getty)Premium Bonds savers may be thinking through their options as NS&I has announced it is slashing the prize fund rate. Each £1 Bond goes into the monthly prize draw with the chance of being paired with a prize, rather than getting an interest rate as with a conventional savings account.The allure of the scheme is you can win big prizes such as £100,000, £50,000 or even a £1million jackpot. But the vast majority of prizes are for small amounts, such as £25 or £50, and your chances of winning are very slim - and soon they will be falling further. Provider NS&I has announced that the rate for the scheme is to drop from the current 3.6 per cent to 3.3 per cent, from the April 2026 draw.The odds of any £1 Bond winning a pri...

Auguste (ayant requis l’anonymat, son prénom a été changé) a 19 ans quand il entend parler des cryptomonnaies pour la première fois. Sur les conseils mal avisés d’un influenceur du Web, il souscrit un prêt étudiant de 50 000 euros pour acheter du bitcoin. En seulement quarante-cinq minutes, il perd 35 000 euros. Paniqué, le jeune homme est orienté en urgence vers un conseiller financier qui le convainc de vendre immédiatement. Il récupère seulement 17 000 euros… Ces histoires malheureuses sont légion et témoignent des difficultés que rencontrent les néophytes tentés par les cryptoactifs alors que le Bitcoin a perdu la moitié de sa valeur depuis son record historique d’octobre 2025. Certains se demandent s’il faut profiter de cette chute pour se repositionner sur le...