About this episode
The episode discusses recent changes in mortgage rates, the upcoming interest rate decision by the Bank of England, and the new wildlife-themed banknotes.
It's been a turbulent week for the mortgage market - as lenders adjusted their rates amid fears of a rise in inflation and what that will mean for interest rates. Average mortgage rates for a 2 and 5 year fix tipped above 5% for the first time since the summer this week, and they've been climbing since. In just a few days time the Bank of England will make its next interest rate decision, but a cut which had been widely anticipated two weeks ago, is now incredibly unlikely. Around 1.8 million people are to come off a fixed mortgage this year, and have some difficult decisions to make - what should they do? Victims' charities have criticised a long awaited and much delayed fraud strategy published earlier this week by the government. Ministers have described it as a "major upgrade to Britain's defences" with £250mn pounds to be invested over the next three years. On Thursday a £100 cap on contactless card payments in the UK is being scrapped. The Financial Conduct Authority is giving banks the freedom to set their own limits, and in theory they could even remove the cap altogether. But it turns out many banks are not planning to change the limit at all, at least for now - why…
People in this episode
Host: Paul Lewis
Guest: Chris Packham
Topics covered
- mortgage rates
- interest rates
- inflation
- fraud strategy
- contactless payments
- banknotes
- wildlife
Keywords
- mortgage market
- interest rates
- Bank of England
- fraud strategy
- contactless payments
- wildlife banknotes
- inflation
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Bank of England, Financial Conduct Authority, BBC Radio 4, Victims' charities
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