The Sunday Times - UK (2022-05-29)

14 The Sunday Times May 29, 2022

MONEY

CREDIT CARDS INTRODUCTORY RATES Provider Card type Introductory purchase APR^1 Reward Contact Barclaycard Platinum All-rounder V 0% for 24 months 21.9% No 0800 151 0900 Sainsbury’s BankDual Offer MC 0% for 24 months 21.9% Yes 08085 40 50 60 M&S Bank Shopping Offer Plus MC 0% for 24 months 21.9% Yes 0800 997 996

BALANCE TRANSFERS Provider Card type Introductory purchaseTransfer fee^2 APR^1 Contact Virgin Money Balance Transfer MC 0% for 34 months 2.7% (no min) 21.9% 0800 389 2875 Halifax Longest 0% BT MC 0% for 34 months 2.89% (no min) 21.9% 0345 944 4555 Tesco Bank Clubcard Credit Card BT MC 0% for 33 months 2.59% (no min) 21.9% 0345 300 4278

CASHBACK CARDS

Provider Card type APR^1 Cashback Contact American Express Platinum Cashback 30% 0.75%-1.25%. Intro 5% for 3 months 0800 917 8047 American Express Platinum Cashback Everyday24.7% 0.5%-1%. Intro 5% for 3 months 0800 917 8047 Halifax Cashback MC 19.9% 0.25-0.5% 0345 944 4555 1 APR = annual percentage rate, dependent on credit rating.^2 Fee charged on the amount of each balance transfer during the introductory period. Source: moneyfacts.co.uk

ENERGY DEALS Supplier Average annual bill Rate Contact Ovo Energy £2,731 Fixed 0330 303 5063 British Gas £2,759 Fixed 0330 100 0056 Scottish Power £3,157 Fixed 0800 027 0072 *Phone numbers provided will call through to theenergyshop.com switch support team. Source: theenergyshop.com — 0800 448 0205

FIVE THINGS

YOU NEED TO

KNOW ABOUT...

CONSUMER PRICE

INDEX AND RETAIL

PRICE INDEX

THE

FIVER

5

1

The consumer price index (CPI) and retail price index (RPI) are measures of inflation that track the prices of about 700 everyday goods and services around the country — known as their “basket of goods”. They are calculated by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and used by the government and companies to set interest rates and price rises.

2

They include different items and are calculated in different ways. RPI tends to be higher than CPI as it includes mortgages and interest payments. CPI doesn’t take housing costs into account, so a third measure of inflation, CPIH, was introduced in 2017 to address this gap.

3

RPI has fallen out of favour with the ONS and it is thought to overstate inflation. RPI is still widely used outside government, however, so the UK Statistics Authority, a regulator, wants to align RPI with CPIH. After 2030 it will be able to do so without the chancellor’s consent.

4

The government has been accused of cherry-picking indices: using the higher RPI when it is collecting money, eg from student loans, and CPI when it pays it out, such as for universal credit and the state pension.

5

Because it uses RPI the interest on student loans will hit 12 per cent this year. Mobile phone providers including O2 and Virgin Mobile raise their prices in line with RPI (plus 3.9 per cent). EE uses CPI.

Yasmin Choudhury

Heloise Greeff, 31, was introduced to cryptocurrencies in 2013 when a friend offered her $20 (£16) worth of bitcoin in exchange for ordering pizza. “A friend owed me money and he asked to pay me back in bitcoin,” said Greeff, a former research fellow at Oxford University. It was to mark the start of her journey investing in crypto. “I wasn’t a pure convert from the start,” she said. “But I was happy to take a chance and accept the payment because the engineer in me understood what was going on with the blockchain. I could understand the long-term potential.” Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency, was launched in 2009 by a pseudo- nymous founder, or group of founders, known as Satoshi Nakamoto. In its early days, public mistrust in bankers following the 2008 financial crash helped it to attract online interest. Instead of relying on banks to hold and keep track of funds, bitcoin is operated using a blockchain, a secure public data- base that records the ownership of assets. Having stored a small amount on a flash drive, Greeff, who moved to the UK from South Africa to complete a PhD in machine learning, began using bitcoin to split bills with a group of friends who were also overseas students to avoid pay- ing currency conversion fees when they owed each other money. Her decision to keep that original $20 of bitcoin paid off.

Today, it is worth more than $3,000. So what’s she going to do now?

Growing adoption Few investors can hope to replicate Greeff ’s success. The crypto market, which is notoriously volatile, is in the grips of a downturn that has wiped $970 billion from its total value since the start of the year. Bitcoin is down by more than 50 per cent compared with its record high of almost $69,000 in November. The price crash has affected millions who poured their savings into crypto during the pandemic. About 2.3 million UK investors are thought to hold crypto, collectively tying up 0.1 per cent of the nation’s wealth, according to official estimates, although the true fig- ure is likely to be much higher. While crypto assets have been promoted on social media by wealthy investors such as Elon Musk, the typical UK crypto investor is much more mundane — they are aged over 35, are male and hold about £300, according to the Financial Conduct Authority. If you aren’t affected, neigh- bours on your street, colleagues and friends may be.

A movement Hugh Falcon, a 25-year-old from London,

‘We’re buying the dip’:

The bitcoin investors

hit by the crypto winter

Lily Russell-Jones

bought crypto for the first time during the pandemic. “I didn’t have anything else to do and I was on furlough,” said Falcon, who works in environmental consultancy. “Lots of people my age were joining the party.” Falcon learnt about crypto from influ- encers on Twitter and YouTube and invested £250 in January 2021. It was good timing: the global crypto market was about to grow from about $780 billion to $2.9 trillion by that November. Falcon says he was attracted to crypto currency by the possibility of large returns and the values he felt it embod- ies. “It’s a movement against the tradi- tional financial system,” he said. Falcon has been increasing his crypto holdings amid the recent market falls. While the majority of his portfolio is in stocks and shares, he has invested £4,000 in bitcoin and ethereum, losing about 10 per cent on his holdings to date. “Other financial markets are implod- ing, so it doesn’t look too bad by compari- son,” Falcon said.

New year’s resolution Hannah Jones, 30, an accountant from London, did not give the decision to invest in crypto much thought. “I invested as a new year’s resolution this January,” said Jones, who found herself with disposable income for the first time after putting down a deposit on a house last year. She was reluctant to leave cash in the bank where its value would be eroded by soaring inflation. Instead, she set aside $800 to invest, putting $200 into crypto on the advice of her friends. “When you hear people talk about their returns you think you should do it, too,” said Jones, who was able to invest in minutes using a mobile app. She bought ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency, and has lost about $100. “It’s so bad,” said Jones. “I don’t really know what I had hoped for, but luckily I only put in what I was willing to lose.” Despite the setback she is still consid- ering buying more. “I did it at the wrong time,” she said.

Close call Paula McMullan, 60, a careers coach who works with lawyers, unwittingly became a bitcoin investor in August 2020. McMullan, who lives in Kent, bought crypto for the first time after signing up for an online course on foreign currency trading and being asked to pay the deposit with bitcoin. She used an online platform to create a crypto wallet and bought £300 worth of bitcoin. However, she did not send it after growing suspicious that the trading course could be a scam. Many online scammers ask for payments in cryptocurrency, and in 2021 investors lost about $7.7 billion in crypto to scams, according to the research firm Chainalysis. Instead of sending the bitcoin she left it sitting in the wallet. She thought little about it until the price shot up and propelled the value of her initial investment to more than £1,500. “If I had been a bit more savvy I would have cashed out then,” McMullen said. Instead she tried to transfer it on to Coin- base, a crypto exchange, so she could easily cash out, but the bitcoin never arrived. McMullen believes her account was hacked. That hasn’t stopped her, though. In the hope of recouping her losses, she decided to invest £2,500 into ethereum and various smaller cryptocurrencies including litecoin, cardano and filecoin. The value of her investment has since fallen to about £1,000. “I have learnt a lot,” McMullen said. “You have to decide when you invest and what your exit strategy will be.” Greeff has been luckier. Last month, she left her job in academia to focus on trading full-time. She now has more than 17,600 followers on the trading platform eToro and creates videos on YouTube about investing. She typically invests between $5,000 and $10,000 in cryptocurrencies, but does not let those holdings exceed 10 per cent of her entire portfolio, which also includes stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and commodities. “I definitely see a big market sell-off as a potential opportunity for picking up good bargains,” said Greeff, whose over- all portfolio has tumbled 22 per cent this year. “At the same time, crypto is quite volatile. It’s not for everyone.”

Environmental consultant Hugh Falcon

Financial influencer Heloise Greeff

Accountant Hannah Jones

Careers coach Paula McMullan

Best Buys

FOREIGN

CURRENCY

Interbank rates at 5pm on Friday, which show where the market is trading. They are not indicative of the rate you could get.

EURO GBP>EUR

1.18

CASH ISAS INSTANT ACCESS Provider Account name Min deposit Interest Transfers in Contact Marcus Cash Isa £1 1.15% No marcus.co.uk Cynergy Bank Online Isa Issue 22 £1 1.05% Yes cynergybank.co.uk FIXED RATE Provider Account name Term Min deposit Rate Transfers inContact Charter Savings Bank1 Year Fixed Rate Cash Isa1 year £5,000 1.75% Yes chartersavingsbank.co.uk Charter Savings Bank2 Year Fixed Rate e-Cash Isa2 years £5,000 2.2% Yes chartersavingsbank.co.uk

Source: savingschampion.co.uk — 0808 178 5354

USA GBP>USD

1.26

SWITZERLAND GBP>CHF

1.21

AUSTRALIA GBP>AUD

1.76

SAVINGS ACCOUNTS INSTANT ACCESS Provider Account name Min deposit Interest rate Contact Chase Chase Saver Account* No minimum 1.5% chase.co.uk Cynergy Bank Online Easy Access Account Issue 51 £1 1.32% cynergybank.co.uk Al Rayan Bank Everyday Saver 2 £2,500 1.31% alrayanbank.co.uk

NOTICE ACCOUNTS Provider Account name Notice period Min deposit Interest rate Contact Oxbury 180 Day Notice Account Issue 1 180 days £1,000 1.65% oxbury.com PCF Bank 180 Day Notice Account Issue 8 180 days £1,000 1.63% pcf.bank OakNorth Bank 120 Day Notice Deposit Account Issue 16120 days £1 1.6% oaknorth.co.uk

FIXED-RATE BONDS Provider Account name Term Min deposit Interest rate Contact Zopa 1 Year Fixed Term Savings 1 year £1,000 2.37% zopa.com Zopa 2 Year Fixed Term Savings 2 years £1,000 2.77% zopa.com Zopa 3 Year Fixed Term Savings 3 years £1,000 2.81% zopa.com

DEALS ARE LISTED ONLY IF THEY ARE COVERED BY THE UK FINANCIAL SERVICES COMPENSATION SCHEME (FSCS) OR A EUROPEAN EQUIVALENT *MUST HOLD A CURRENT ACCOUNT WITH THE PROVIDER Source: savingschampion.co.uk — 0808 178 5354

CHILDREN’S ACCOUNTS Provider Account name Account type Min deposit Interest rate Contact Dudley BS Junior Easy Saver Regular Saver £10 3.5% dudleybuildingsociety.co.uk Saffron BS Children’s Regular Saver Issue 2Regular Saver No minimum 3.02% saffronbs.co.uk Santander^1 123 Mini Current Account Current Account £1,500 2.96% santander.co.uk

(^1) Interest paid on balances between £1,500 and £2,000 (^2) 0.25% paid on balances above £3,000
JUNIOR ISAS
Provider Account name Min deposit Interest rate Rate Contact
Coventry BS Junior Cash Isa (2) £1 2.45% Variable coventrybuildingsociety.co.uk
Family BS Cash Junior Isa (1) £3,000 2.4% Variable familybuildingsociety.co.uk
Tesco Bank Junior Cash Isa £1 2.25% Variable tescobank.com
Source: savingschampion.co.uk — 0808 178 5354
MORTGAGES
2-YEAR FIXED RATES
Lender Rate Scheme Deposit Fee Notes Contact
Allied irish 2.1% Fixed to 31.05.24 15% £0 L 02890 479 221
Yorkshire BS 2.7% Fixed to 31.07.24 10% £495 OPV 0345 166 9510
Skipton 2.95% Fixed to 31.08.24 5% £495 PV 0345 850 1755
3-YEAR FIXED RATES
Yorkshire BS 2.65% Fixed to 31.07.25 25% £495 RSO 0345 166 9510
Yorkshire BS 2.82% Fixed to 31.07.25 15% £495 RSO 0345 166 9510
Nationwide 2.74% Fixed for 3 years 10% £999 PV 0800 302 010
LONG-TERM FIXED RATES
First Direct 2.54% Fixed for 5 years 40% £490 LV 0800 482 448
Lloyds 2.54% Fixed to 31.08.27 20% £999 RS 0800 738 3534
First Direct 2.79% Fixed for 5 years 10% £490 LV 0800 482 448
Lloyds 2.31% Fixed to 31.08.32 40% £999 RS 0800 783 3534
TRACKERS / DISCOUNTS
Barclays 1.75% Tracker + 0.75% for 2 years 40% £999 ELV 0333 202 7580
Yorkshire BS 2.24% Tracker + 1.24% to 31.07.24 10% £995 EV 0345 166 9510
Newbury BS 1.84% 2.26% discount for 5 years 25% £850 LV 01633 555 5777
First Direct 2.94% Tracker+1.94% for term 25% £490 ELV 0800 482 448
FIRST-TIME BUYER / LOW DEPOSIT
Coventry BS 3.19% Fixed to 31.10.24 5% £0 FV 0800 121 8899
TSB 3.04% Fixed to 31.08.27 5% £995 FPV 0800 056 1088
Skipton 2.68% Fixed for 31.10.27 25% £995 HP 0345 850 1755
BUY TO LET
Skipton BS 1.86% Tracker +0.86% for 2 years 40% £995 ELV 0345 850 1755
HSBC 2.19% Fixed to 31.07.24 40% £1,999 RS 0800 494 999
HSBC 2.49% Fixed to 31.07.27 25% £1,999 RS 0800 494 999
Early repayment charge applies unless otherwise stated. Most deals track Bank of England base rate.
C = £500 cashback for purchases; E = No early repayment charge; F = £500 cashback for first-time buyers; H = Help to Buy;
L = Free legal work for remortgages; M = £300 cashback for purchases; N = £250 cash back for purchases; O = £250 cash back;
P = Purchases only; R - Free legal work and valuation for remortgages; S = Remortgage only; V = Free valuation
Source: landc.co.uk — 0800 373 300
CURRENT ACCOUNTS
CREDIT INTEREST
Provider Account name Account fee Reward Balance (for reward) Contact
Halifax Reward Current Account None £5 a month – 0345 720 3040
TSB Spend & Save None £5 a month – 0345 975 8758
Virgin Money M Plus Account None 2.02% AER Up to £1,000 0800 678 3654
OVERDRAFTS *
Provider Account name Account fee Interest rate^1 0% overdraft limit Contact
Starling Bank Current Account None 15% £0 starlingbank.com
First Direct 1st Account None 39.9% £250 0345 600 2424
Virgin Money M Plus Account None 19.9% £0 0800 678 3654
(^1) Equivalent annual rate.

Based on overdraft of £500 for 7 days a month.
Some accounts require minimum funding/direct debits to open or receive rates shown.
Source: moneyfacts.co.uk
Table shows the cheapest fixed tariff now available
from the cheapest suppliers. Excludes tariffs of less
than 12 months’ duration, tariffs that do not have
national coverage and tariffs where payments are
taken in advance of supply. Variable rate tariffs are
set by Ofgem’s price cap and may be lower.

The Sunday Times - UK (2022-05-29)

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