HSBC to allow Post Office access

17 September 2012 Last updated at 07:57 ET

HSBC is to allow customers to use the Post Office counter network for basic transactions following criticism by the government.

Most UK banks, except for HSBC and Santander, allow customers to make withdrawals and deposits at post offices.

A previous consumer minister last year accused the duo of "holding out" against offering the service.

HSBC said that it was changing its policy owing to customer demand.

A year ago it had claimed that fewer than three in 10 of its customers actually wanted such access.

'Delight'

From spring 2013, nine million HSBC and First Direct customers will be able to withdraw money, deposit cash and cheques and check balances at all 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK.

These customers already have access to 1,200 HSBC branches in the UK. However, the bank closed 50 branches in 2011 and 36 so far in 2012, blaming reduced local demand.

Continue reading the main story

The Post Office has over 11,500 branches, providing unparalleled reach into communities up and down the country"

End Quote Jo Swinson Consumer Minister

A spokesman for the bank said that it was among the last to offer this service, but was doing so now as a result of a "groundswell of opinion" from customers. He said it was unclear why customers' views had changed.

Last summer, watchdog Consumer Focus suggested that four million customers of High Street banks used the Post Office network to use some current account services.

It claimed that up to 18 million people could go to the network for their banking needs if access was widened.

The consumer minister at the time, Ed Davey, said HSBC and Santander were "holding out" against such access.

The new Consumer Minister Jo Swinson said she was "delighted" about HSBC's change of policy.

"The government has been clear that we would like everyone to be able to access their current accounts at post offices and the deal means that 95% of all UK debit cardholders will be able to do this," she said.

"The Post Office... [provides] unparalleled reach into communities up and down the country."

The deal leaves Santander as the only major UK bank not to offer such access.

"[We are] committed to achieving a position where current account holders of all the major UK banks can access their accounts at Post Office branches," said a Post Office spokesman.

17 Sep, 2012

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Bankrupts face account shut-out

17 September 2012 Last updated at 06:00 ET

People recovering from bankruptcy will no longer have a choice over where they can access a bank account as Co-op withdraws from the market.

Only the Co-op and Barclays offered accounts to those who are undischarged bankrupts - generally the 12 months after a bankruptcy order is made.

The former has said it will no longer accept new customers of this type, blaming an "un-level playing field".

It said existing customers in this situation would not be affected.

'Disproportionate'

People who have been made bankrupt are generally only allowed to open a basic bank account.

These accounts do not offer overdrafts. Some have a debit card, but only with limited facilities. They do not incur a monthly fee.

There are about 20 basic bank accounts available, but now only Barclays allows undischarged bankrupts to sign up.

The Co-op argued that all banks should work equally to offer help to those who have been financially excluded.

"Across the industry there has long been an un-level playing field in the provision of basic bank accounts, with our bank doing far more than most, and we have been calling for some time for this to be addressed," said John Hughes, managing director of retail banking at the Co-op.

"Unfortunately it has now come to the stage where our disproportionate market share of the basic bank account market has continued to grow significantly, and regretfully, we now need to take steps to address this."

17 Sep, 2012

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US in new trade spat with China

17 September 2012 Last updated at 05:17 ET

US President Barack Obama is expected to file a new trade complaint against China, accusing it of illegally subsidising exports of cars and car parts.

A White House official said China's actions were forcing US manufacturers to shift production overseas.

"The key principal at stake is that China must play by the rules of the global trading system," said a White House official.

Mr Obama's move is seen as political.

President Obama will announce the World Trade Organization (WTO) action against China when he visits the US state of Ohio, which has more than 50,000 workers employed in the car industry.

Ohio is a critical state in the upcoming presidential elections on 6 November, with success there seen as a crucial pre-requisite to becoming President.

The US and China are already involved in a series of trade disputes at the WTO. The contentious issues include Chinese solar panels and rare earth exports, among others.

In the latest wrangle, the Obama administration clams that China's "illegal subsidies" in the car sector totalled $1bn (£600m) between 2009 and 2011.

The US President believes that the subsidies encourage the US to outsource car and car parts production to China, with these products then exported into the US or other nations.

China pledged to wipe out export subsidies when it joined the WTO in 2001.

Last week, President Obama's main Republican rival Mitt Romney accused Mr Obama of being too soft on China.

17 Sep, 2012

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Wonga profits from loan demand

17 September 2012 Last updated at 04:54 ET

Money lender Wonga has announced a sharp jump in profits, thanks to strong demand for credit during the downturn.

Net profit more than trebled to £45.8m in 2011, from £12.4m in 2010. Revenue grew at a similar rate, to £185m.

The number of loans made by the company quadrupled to almost 2.5 million, taking the total number of loans made since launch in 2007 to six million.

Wonga offers short-term loans of up to £1,000, but has been criticised for its high interest rates.

Earlier this year, the firm was also criticised by the Office of Fair Trading for using aggressive and misleading debt collection methods.

The firm said the incidents were isolated and took place a long time ago. It has also defended its high interest rates, arguing that the firm merely offers short-term loans that help people and businesses with cashflow problems.

"It is not about the desperation of customers - we reject about 60% of applicants," Wonga boss Errol Damelin told the Reuters news agency.

"This is about a service that is important to people, because they do run out of cash from time to time."

17 Sep, 2012

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India makes move to boost lending

17 September 2012 Last updated at 03:18 ET

India central bank has lowered the amount of money that banks need to keep in reserve, in a bid to boost lending and spur domestic demand.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut the Cash Reserve Ration (CRR) by 25 basis points to 4.5%.

However, the bank left its key interest rate unchanged at 8%.

The CRR cut, which will inject 170bn rupees ($3.15bn; £1.94bn) into the market, comes as India's economic growth has slowed.

"I think this is a reasonably prudent move, which will add to liquidity in the system," said Gajendra Nagpal, chief executive of Unicon Financial Intermediaries.

Inflation concerns

The RBI was under pressure to lower the cost of borrowing, in order to help ease the burden on businesses and households.

However, analysts said the bank had been wary of the impact of such a move on consumer price growth.

Data released on Friday showed that the inflation rate rose to a higher-than-expected 7.55% in August, from a year earlier. Most analysts had expected the rate to be about 6.95%.

Last week, the government announced a 14% increase in diesel price, a move that is expected to result in a further increase in consumer prices.

Analysts said the RBI's decision not to reduce interest rates shows that the central bank is still concerned about the high inflation rate.

"[The] RBI is fighting a lone battle against inflation. One can argue that inflation still remains stubbornly high and substantial easing is not possible," said Mr Nagpal of Unicon Financial Intermediaries.

17 Sep, 2012

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India party ministers may quit

17 September 2012 Last updated at 00:52 ET

A key political ally is to meet on Tuesday to decide on whether or not to withdraw from the Indian government.

The Trinamool Congress party has demanded that the government scrap its decision to open up India's retail sector to global supermarket chains.

Separately, India's opposition parties have called for a nationwide strike on Thursday to protest the decision.

Delhi's plan is aimed at reviving a flagging economy, but small shops fear they will be put out of business.

Last year, the government was forced to suspend a similar plan amid protests.

On Saturday, Mamata Banerjee, the leader of the Trinamool Congress party and chief minister of West Bengal state, gave Delhi 72 hours to reverse the new policy and warned she could withdraw from the government.

Media reports suggest federal ministers belonging to the party may quit in protest, but Ms Banerjee is likely to continue supporting the government.

Ms Banerjee has said her party will have to take "hard decisions" if the federal government does not roll back its decision to open up the retail sector.

Under the government's proposal, global firms - such as Walmart and Tesco - will be able to buy up to a 51% stake in multi-brand retailers.

Multinational retailers already have outlets in India, but they deal with smaller retailers. This decision allows them to sell directly to Indian consumers.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that the reforms "will help strengthen our growth process and generate employment in these difficult times".

17 Sep, 2012

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Oil trading near four-month high

17 September 2012 Last updated at 02:45 ET Continue reading the main story

Oil prices rose for the eighth session in a row, with Brent crude trading near a four-month high, boosted by the Federal Reserve's move last week to stimulate the US economy.

The central bank said on Thursday that it would inject $40bn (£25bn) a month into the economy.

Brent crude for November delivery was up 26 cents at $116.92 a barrel, while US crude was up 1 cent to $99.01.

There are fears that high oil prices could hamper economic recovery.

The Fed's announcement that it would start a third round of bond-buying, known as quantitative easing, has been dubbed QE3.

"The big question is how long this Fed-inspired rally will continue, as QE3 was the last bazooka to be used in the central bank's arsenal," IG markets said in a report.

"For the time being, [the oil price] has given a powerful shot in the arm for global markets."

But Victor Shum, managing director of consultancy IHS Purvin & Gertz, said the current price "doesn't do any favours" for a global economy that is struggling to get back on track.

"A price rally like we are seeing now is only going to do more damage," he said.

But he added that he did not expect this level of trading to last.

"Fundamentals at the moment are not indicative of these prices, and I don't see oil being able to sustain this rally."

17 Sep, 2012

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Economy may be recovering - Major

16 September 2012 Last updated at 08:11 ET

Sir John Major tells Andrew Marr UK economic recovery begins "from the darkest moment"

The British economy may have passed its "darkest moment" and an economic recovery may be under way, former Prime Minister Sir John Major has said.

He said falling unemployment and a rising stock market indicated Britain was now on a "slow road to recovery".

Sir John also urged Tory MPs to rally round David Cameron's leadership and dismissed suggestions Boris Johnson could mount a leadership challenge.

He said the Conservative Party had learnt regicide was "not a good idea".

Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show on the 20th anniversary of Black Wednesday - the day Britain had to pull out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism - Sir John said that Britain may already have weathered the worst of the economic storm.

He likened the current economic situation to that of the early 1990s when Chancellor Norman Lamont predicted he could see the "green shoots" of recovery - a comment that was seen as a major gaffe that jarred with people's everyday experience of falling living standards.

'Long-running sore'

Sir John said: "Normal Lamont was taken to pieces by commentators for suggesting there were green shoots. But in retrospect we can see that Norman was right.

"Recovery begins from the darkest moment. I'm not certain, but I think we have passed the darkest moment."

Continue reading the main story

David Cameron is prime minister. He is going to remain prime minister and he is going to contest the next election"

End Quote Sir John Major

"There are some oddities in the figures at the moment: Why in the depths of this recession is employment growing? Why is industrial production going up? Why has the stock market risen?

"There are things happening out there that will become apparent and we don't quite know why or how. My guess - and this is something a minister can't say but I can - is that in due course we will find that we passed the bottom."

The former prime minister, who negotiated Britain's opt-out from joining the euro, said he thought the eurozone crisis would lead to a two-tier Europe - with closer integration for euro members.

He said the process could take up to 10 years and would spark a UK referendum on Britain's relationship with the European Union.

"What you're now seeing, out of failure and not success, is the euro core looking to integrate further, much more towards a federal structure," he said.

"That offers an opportunity for us to clean up one of the long-running sores of British politics, which is our relationship with the rest of Europe."

Amid speculation that some Tory MPs are unhappy with David Cameron's leadership, Sir John - who faced questions over his leadership as prime minister - backed Mr Cameron to lead the Conservatives into the next election.

'Attractive and able'

It was not surprising, he said, for people to be critical of the leadership when "times are tough" and divisions within a party were "an inevitability of politics".

"I would have thought that if the Conservative Party has learned anything in the last 20 years, it's learnt that regicide is not a good idea," he said.

He praised Mayor of London Boris Johnson - whose popularity is seen as having increased following the Olympics - as a "very attractive and able and intelligent politician" who is doing a "supremely good job" in London.

But, he added: "Boris isn't in Parliament. Boris hasn't said he wishes to become prime minister - quite the reverse.

"The belief that suddenly everything is going to change - you're going to have a leadership challenge and you're going to have a replacement of the prime minister - I think isn't in the real world.

"David Cameron is prime minister. He is going to remain prime minister and he is going to contest the next election and I very much hope he's going to win it."

16 Sep, 2012

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Panasonic in China factory halt

16 September 2012 Last updated at 23:35 ET

Japanese electronics maker Panasonic has suspended some of its operations in China after anti-Japan protesters attacked two of its factories.

The firm said its factory in Qingdao will remain shut until 18 September.

The attacks are a part of wider protests that have spread across China and hurt other firms, including Toyota.

They started after Japan said it had agreed a deal to buy a chain of disputed islands in East China Sea from their private Japanese owner.

A spokesperson for Panasonic told the BBC that the firm would continue to monitor the situation over the next two days.

17 Sep, 2012

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UK's 'top piracy city' revealed

17 September 2012 Last updated at 00:44 By Dave Lee Technology Reporter

Manchester has been named the piracy capital of the UK, according to a new study seen exclusively by the BBC.

The research said there were more illegal downloads per person in the city than any other in the country, followed by Nottingham and Southampton.

The statistics, from monitoring service Musicmetric, conclude that in the first half of 2012, UK users illegally shared over 40 million albums and singles.

An industry group said the data showed piracy "remains a significant problem".

The data, collected independently by Musicmetric and seen exclusively by the BBC, is believed to be the biggest analysis of its kind to be conducted.

It monitored the global activity of BitTorrent files - a method of obtaining files by downloading from many users at the same time.

The data's release came as measures to attempt to curb illegal downloading began to take hold, such as the blocking of popular piracy websites and the relegation and removal of search results from Google.

Musicmetric's findings said that singer Ed Sheeran was the most pirated act in the UK for the first half of 2012, followed by hip-hop duo Rizzle Kicks and Barbadian megastar Rihanna.

The data suggested that Ed Sheeran's 2011 album + (Plus) was illegally downloaded an average of 55,512 times every month, and was the most popular download in over 460 towns and cities in the UK.

Legal UK sales of his album in the first half of 2012 hit the 448,000 mark - making it the fourth most popular album behind releases from Adele, Emeli Sande and Lana Del Rey.

Download nation

Globally, the research suggested that the UK is a significant on the world stage as a country of illegal music downloaders.

The country was placed second in the world in terms of pure volume of illegal activity, with Musicmetric logging 43,263,582 downloads in the first six months of this year.

The US topped the list, with 96,681,133 downloads tracked in the same period.

Italy (33,158,943), Canada (23,959,924) and Brazil (19,724,522) made up the remainder of the top five.

Rihanna's latest album - Talk That Talk - was found to be the world's most pirated release - Musicmetric tracked 1,228,313 downloads for the title in the first half of 2012.

In its analysis of the UK's data, Musicmetric has estimated that 345 million individual tracks made up the torrent files downloaded by British music fans.

According to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the UK's music industry body, the figures were having a "significant effect on investment in new music".

"According to their data, there are more illegal downloads in the UK still than there are legal purchases," the BPI's chief executive Geoff Taylor told the BBC.

"[It] compares to about 240 million tracks that were sold legally. A lot of people are getting very rich from stealing other people's things.

"That's wrong, and we think that musicians deserve to be paid for what they do, just like everyone else."

However, Loz Kaye, leader of the Pirate Party UK - who will be attempting to become Manchester's next MP in the next election - said the complaints of record labels is "protectionism".

"We need to remove the barriers for actual artists to connect with their business and their fans," he told the BBC.

"The truth is, why [music industry figures] are complaining so much is that with a properly functioning internet, and a properly functioning economy, the big players are no longer necessary."

17 Sep, 2012

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