The Fast Track

With interest rates at high levels UK savers should be investing more in savings or bank accounts but are spending the money immediately, according to a new report from IFA Promotion.

Out of those studied, 72 per cent said they did not believe they were saving enough for the future and 18 per cent said that they were enjoying spending their incomes too much to put money aside for future use.

Furthermore, 4.8 million people do not know their current financial position and 32 per cent said that they have lost control of their personal finances at some point in their lives.

Chief executive at IFA Promotion David Elms said that consumers should now look at the selection of available bank accounts on the market to get more out of their money.

“Last week’s announcement should be treated less as blanket bad news for the heavily indebted UK consumer and more as a wake up call to save more and spend less. The interest rate rise is minimal, but has met a shock reaction,” he commented.

The Bank of England raised the base rate of interest to 5.5 per cent earlier this month and another rise is anticipated later in the summer.

I’m pleased to say we’ve paid off some of my debts over the last tw months whilst building up the various savings pots for a rainy day ~ or maybe a holiday. I haven’t touched a credit card to pay for anything which is a wonderful feeling.

Between me and my partner, we must have at least seven credit cards and some with quite high limits (e.g. c £7K). We regulary frequent comparison sites or the best deals and hence I have amassed quite a few of them over the years. I have sworn never to touch thee agian, but have decided not to get rid of them. We don’t feel the need to cut them up as we know we won’t use them but it seems such a hassle actually cancelling them all. How does it affect our credit rating for future reference if we simply hang on to them? Is is better to cancel or does it really make much difference bearing in mind we have managed to preserve our credit rating (mine is 752 or something like that with Equifax).

Please bear in mind all the cards have a 0 balance now and the only reason we may seek credit in future is for a good deal e.g. one year’s free interest on an emergency item like a fridge freezer etc (so our emergency fund can still gain interest).

Many thanks for any advice as to whether we should actually cancel the cards.

Revenue from European investment banking and bank accounts set up in this manner rose by 37 per cent in 2006.

Total revenue stood at $22.8 billion (£11.5 billion) and half of European investment activity is via European investment, according to International Financial Services London.

Moreover, the UK was responsible for 27 per cent of investment banking fees or around $6.3 billion.

The body says that there was a “global increase of investment banking fee revenue from $53 billion in 2005 to $69 billion in 2006″.

Further, the pace of revenues generated from European investment banking also matched those of the US, the findings state.

Overall, half of the $69 billion in fees are accounted for by the US, while a third came from Europe and 17 per cent from Asia.

London is now considered the world’s financial capital and 340,000 people work in financial services across the City of London.

Let us see what opportunities arise to help us all grow wealtier together.