Savings Banks

Zopa is a revolutionary new concept where creditworthy people who want to borrow money can get together with people who are happy to lend it to them. And because there's no middleman, the borrower just pays a 1% exchange fee to Zopa up front, both get a great deal.

Because it puts lenders and borrowers in control of their money.

The Bank of England is expected to announce today that interest rates have been kept at 4.75%.

The base rate has remained unchanged since August 2004, when it was raised from 4.50%.

Rupert Jones
Wednesday June 8, 2005
The Guardian

The Halifax is likely to have customers queueing out of the door next week after launching a savings account paying 10% interest.
That is thought to be the best rate available from any bank or building society since the early 1990s, and trumps competitor HSBC's heavily advertised 8% offering.

But there are some strings attached to this table-topping deal, which is being launched today. First and foremost, it is not open to everyone - it is a children's savings account. And there are strict limits on how much can be invested in the accounts in order to prevent people shovelling their life savings into them.

Reuters

Bank of Ireland said on Tuesday 23rd May that it had agreed to sell the branch network of its Bristol & West unit to Britannia Building Society for 150 million pounds in cash.

Bank of Ireland which will retain the Bristol & West brand and all other parts of the business, had been widely expected to sell the branches after saying last year that they were no longer part of the core business.

"The disposal delivers on a key commitment set out by us last November. To sell at a good price to a quality institution," Bank of Ireland Group Chief Executive Brian Goggin said in a statement.