After the flurry of big announcments last week, this week felt quiet in comparison.

All eyes are now back on lockdown… with increased COVID cases, the new Tier 2/3 areas rolling out across England, together with enhanced restrictions in Wales, NI and Scotland too.. the focus was on what this means for business and what can be done to help.

-> Covid-19: UK workers to get 67% of pay if firms told to shut

In financial services, the split between the desire for loans and funding, from customers, however restraint from the banks continues. You wonder how much the gap will be picked up by the alternative lending sector and fin tech if this continues.

-> Mortgage applications soar after coronavirus lockdown lifted
-> Banks use housing mini-boom to raise price of mortgages

Generally there is a sense that the economy is picking up… not exactly returning to normal, more that we have to carry on as we cannot put everything on hold forever.

There is also a migration away from Credit to Debit card which is also interesting… Some segments of the population have used this event as an opportunity to save and re-orientate their financials… other I suspect have not (or cannot)… we will see this flow through over time.

-> Debit card spending hits record high in July
-> BOA: Consumer Spending Up, Delinquencies Down

In wider economic news, BoE is still discussing negative rates. This has been long trailed for reaction and just wonder if this may happen.

-> Bank of England questions banks over negative rates

We are all working from home more, and again with re-lockdown, some concern on the mental helath aspects of this. I suspect it is the always ‘at home’ piece that is making many of us grumpy as much as the ‘working from’ element… although it is a new balance for many people for sure.

-> Four in 10 office workers fear the effect of working from home on mental health

Lastly, we are at home and have all been heavily reliant on the internet in particular for communication. This has surged (as is amazing how well the infrastructure held up – well done to the telco engineers) and the impacts can now be seen in recent statistics.

-> UK’s internet use surges to record levels
-> UK talks for longer during lockdown
-> Canadians spend more money and time online during pandemic and over two-fifths report a cyber incident

Have a good weekend everyone… @chris_w_tweet

Some fairly significant news developments this last week, at least for the financial services industry.

First off there was the announcement that letters used for the collection of debt, now needed to be in clear English, signpost free debt advice, and not use capitals in the letters. The industry consensus, contrary to the impression from many news stories, was that this was a good thing and of course, there is also little to stop businesses from doing most of this today… indeed many do. However it will now be regulation for, so at a minimum will be another thing to monitor for compliance and control.

Next up, there was further concern on the performance of the BBLS scheme, with the release of a national audit office report. With around £40bn lent, with a priority on speed of distribution rather than control, fraud is expected to be an issue. Additionally, with weak onboarding and underwriting control, around 30%-75% are expected to default. Even at the lower range, this is a staggering number, and with the government picking up the tab the dynamics will be different… much more to hear on this I think.

Likewise I also some time reviewing the legislation for the new breathing space scheme this week too. There are some signficiant operational issues heading our way on this and many are working on this already… expect to hear a more on this soon too.

And… with COVID cases firmly on the rise again it looks like we will be nearly all in lockdown again… indeed some are already… economic clouds and uncertainty remain firmly on the horizon.

Other key stories this week

• UK’s internet use surges to record levels
• UK talks for longer during lockdown
• Nearly 75% of City firms reviewing office space provision
• Half of workers relying on credit since pandemic
• UK new car sales slide to lowest September level this century
• ‘My firm may fold because I can’t get a bouncebank loan’
• Covid: Nearly 500,000 redundancies planned since crisis began

Have a good weekend everyone… @chris_w_tweet