When mobile banking was first introduced as an SMS service in the early 2000s, few could’ve predicted the rapid development that would follow over the course of the next 15 years.
These days, every major high street bank offers a responsive mobile banking app that allows their customers to access account information, statements, make payments and transactions within just a few shorts clicks. Providing you can connect to the internet this makes mobile banking extremely convenient, especially if you’re in a hurry to check your balance or transfer funds.
But what other good reasons are there for you to download a mobile banking app to your mobile? Let’s run through them now…
Keep track of your finances
The ability for customers to check their balance at a moment’s notice is great for those who wish to get a tight handle on their daily, weekly and monthly expenditure. And although there may be certain aspects – such as viewing a list of all direct debits – that you may only be able to do with conventional online PC banking, soon we expect the functionality of both services to be more or less identical.
Many banking apps also offer a well-designed analytics function that allows users to see their main outgoings and how much money they have been spending in comparison to previous months.
It’s just as secure as online PC banking
The fact is that mobile banking is just as secure as traditional PC banking, and follows more or less the same login and password structure. And even if you log in to your banking app and immediately lose your phone afterwards, most apps will log you out after a very short period of inactivity.
This is the future
The growth of the mobile industry is astounding when you look at the figures. A recent national forecast from Statista suggests that the number of smartphone users in the UK will reach just under 45 million this year, which is 70% of the British population.
And that figure is only going one way right now. As a natural development of this rise in usage, mobile banking will become more and more prevalent, and so banks will invest more and more into creating increasingly responsive mobile apps to seek out an edge over the competition.
Despite the relatively mild months of November and December, January’s air has brought with it a discernible nip. As the temperature falls we’re all more likely to give into temptation and hit the heating on; at the expense of a low heating bill at the end of the month, of course.
Electricity-wise, the darker mornings and evenings are also far more likely to see us switch on the lights for an additional few hours every day. Plus, as people generally wear more layers of clothes in winter it’s easy for the washing machine and tumble dryer to be constantly whirring away, particularly in a family household.
So, what exactly can the average UK household do to keep their back pockets in check? Rest a little easier and let Evolution Money run you through some of the best tips out there…
Optimise your timings
The price of gas is the same whatever time of day you choose to put the heating on. This means that, to save as much money as possible, you should be considering two simple factors: outside temperature and occupancy of the house.
Once you’ve worked this out, you’ll be in a good position to work out your most cost effective routine. Bear in mind that most modern boilers now have a timer function, so you can set the heating to turn on for half an hour or so just before you wake up or return home from work.
Change those light bulbs
Although this is a relatively common tip that you’ve probably heard before, we can’t recommend switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) enough.
These bulbs use an average of 75% less energy than your standard light bulb, which could actually save you up to £100 per year on your electricity bill, particularly if you have a lot of bulbs in your house.
Switch to a lower washing temperature
Heating water can prove to be one of the biggest drains on your energy usage. So instead of automatically going for a high temperature on your washing machine, consider flicking the dial a few degrees downwards.
This can save you a surprising amount of money per load, particularly if you are washing clothes for the whole family on a regular basis.
When George Osborne announced in July last year that he was planning to impose a much higher tax rate on the properties of wealthy non-doms living and working in the UK, many people said it was about time that the strange loophole was sewn shut.
Now an almost identical tax is being rolled out to international parents who plan on sending their UK-based children a loan to buy their first house. These loans will now effectively be subject to inheritance tax, just as a direct investment in the property would be.
The new legislation is likely to affect thousands of international parents, and is expected to discourage them from funding purchases of property on British soil. And it’s not only parents who are subject to the new rules – the imposition has no limit of guarantors and will also cover other family members, trusts and companies.
The difference between ‘loans’ and ‘gifts’
The reason a parent may choose to send a high-value loan rather than a gift is simple: security and culpability. With a gift, the child has unlimited access to the funds and may spend them however they like, with no expectation that they will ever have to return the money.
Sure, a parent is able to pass their son or daughter a cheque for £20,000 towards their new house, but without legally documenting the payment as a loan, the child is technically free to do with the money what they wish – which is an understandingly worrying prospect for parents.
During the past 12 months, house prices in the UK have risen by an average of +4.5% nationwide, a similar rate of inflation to that of 2015. All UK regions experienced house price growth to varying degrees, most notably East Anglia which saw its biggest increase since 2010 (+10%). (source: The Telegraph)
Surprisingly, house price growth in London fell sharply compared with the previous year, going from +12% in 2015 to +3.7% this year. This meant that, for the first year since 2008, house price growth in London actually fell below the UK average.
On the whole, the rise in house prices is being attributed to a national supply squeeze. Fewer homes on the market mean that the cost is still rising steadily, despite other pressures on affordability. This made 2016 a particularly challenging year for first-time buyers.
With the new year now upon us, housing experts are looking ahead to 2017 in an attempt to forecast what’s on the horizon for the property market over the next 12 months.
What’s likely to happen?
Even though the general feeling of uncertainty is definitely still there, the prevailing thought among many housing experts is that house price growth will slow down compared to 2016.
As the knock-on effect of Brexit continues to unravel, it’s difficult to predict a precise rate of growth with any real conviction. However, it’s more than likely that house prices will continue to rise, though at a slower rate than what we’ve seen in 2016.
Anyway, we feel it won’t be long before we see the impact of low mortgage rates, low supply and low foreign investment in the housing market post-Brexit – but the nature of that impact remains to be seen. Perhaps a slightly easier prediction is that there will likely be no silver bullet for first-time buyers looking to get their first foot on the property ladder.
Think carefully before securing debts against your home your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage or any other loan secured against it. If you are thinking of consolidating existing borrowing, you should be aware that you may be extending the terms of the debt and increasing the total amount you repay.
