Penalties hit £136m in first quarter as City fears era of 'fine inflation'

The battle between credit card companies striving to offer the longest zero per cent term for balance transfers shows no sign of fizzling out. The latest moves in this field means that it's now possible to borrow interest-free for 26 months if you meet the credit scoring criteria.

At a private dinner a couple of years back I heard a former adviser to US President Barack Obama say that in 1982, after the Latin American banking crisis, several of America's biggest banks were technically bust.

Thousands of British ex-pats living in Cyprus will have their pensions temporarily halted and can nominate non-Cypriot bank accounts to ensure payments are not affected by the country’s controversial levy on savings, the Government announced today.

If interest rates stay low the Treasury could be in line for a £50bn windfall

Sterling rallied yesterday as the Bank of England shrugged off fears of a triple-dip recession and held fire on pumping billions extra into the UK's flatlining recovery.

Downing Street insists PM is 'sticking to the course' despite Liberal Democrat Business Secretary's comments

There is just over a month to go until the end of the tax year, which normally means: A) lots of ISA (individual savings accounts) adverts; and b) a bunfight by cash ISA providers for the top slot in the best-buy tables.

Why has the Bank of England proposed negative rates?

Outlook On to high-yield savings and AgriBank, which has generated a flurry of excitement by offering a bond that might allow your money at least to keep pace with inflation.

Deputy Governor floats plan that could mean new charges for customers

Is the Hakkasan group's latest proposition worth the City-slicker prices?

This is bad news. A drop in a credit rating by one agency does not matter that much in itself, for heaven knows, the rating agencies have been absurdly wrong in their judgements. The AAA ratings they gave to dodgy US housing debt were one of the factors in the banking crash of 2008. Both the US and France have seen a similar modest downgrading of their debt. But it matters because it focuses investors on the inherent weakness not just of British national finances at the moment but also of the longer-term commitment of the UK authorities to holding down inflation and assuring investors that they will get paid back in real – rather than devalued – money.