Member Info for Gunsup

When I say cashback it was the email voucher codes which you redeem at one code for which shop you like and that worked very well..

Morning bros

Well end of another week. Lloyds starting off on back foot this morning.

Mr STP hope you get your ISA transfer sorted.

My wife, god bless that lovely woman, moved a couple out of Virgin money because of the N/w merger. So they went to Santander when it was the 4.5% and the cash back. Just a couple of issues and one to the Coventry from N/W which didn't go well at all but N/W did compensate...

So another day and more glitches

"Lloyds Banking Group's IT failure disrupts services for over three hours, affecting millions of customers across multiple brands"..The disruption began just after 11 a.m. and cut across Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Scottish Widows, and MBNA, according to The Guardian"..

Still some may have seen the error of their ways..

4Th April 2026 was reported

" Barclays is planning to return to the high street by opening new branches and bringing back “bank managers”, The Times has reported.

Vim Maru, chief executive officer at Barclays UK, told the paper he does not want customers to get “stuck in some chatbot” when they need help"....

STP.

Respect..

Very wise. I use cash at any filing station I don't know..

So how big tech working today ?.

"Error ID: 97.a6847b5c.1780488692.a3364ee

We are currently unable to take you to your stockbroking account, but are working hard to correct this as soon as we can". !!

Not too good then ....

Mr elegance

Respect

FCM been a good buy that is for sure. You will find amongst Lloyds investors many have diversified their portfolios to include opportunities in REEs, PMs and emerging technologies related to energy ...

Gl.

STP

With this one.. Bad thing... We are over reliant on technology.. I don't use banking apps on my phone...

Mr STP

Respect

For sure when that list is completed Lloyds no longer the biggest high street financial provider. Good thing / bad thing you decide. Looking also Halifax no longer going to be stand alone brand ending its 173 year history..

Halifax closures

Ashington, Northumberland – June 3

Beeston, Nottinghamshire – June 4

Billingham, County Durham – June 4

Bridgend, Wales – June 11

Bognor Regis, West Sussex – June 15

Bramley, West Yorkshire – June 15

Cardiff Albany Road, Wales – June 11

Chorley, Lancashire – June 24

Croydon City, Greater London – June 25

Didsbury, Greater Manchester – June 10

Ellesmere Port, Cheshire – June 8

Goole, East Yorkshire – June 17

Greenford, Greater London – June 16

Halesowen, West Midlands – June 17

Hunts Cross, Merseyside – June 8

Shipley, West Yorkshire – June 9

Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands – June 3

Thornaby, North Yorkshire – June 17

Torquay, Devon – July 9

West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire – June 16

List of Bank of Scotland branches closing:

Blairgowrie – June 18

Bridge Of Don – June 10

Broughty Ferry – June 15

Garrowhill – June 4

Haddington – June 11

Kelso – June 18

Lochgilphead – June 22

Penicuik – June 4

Rutherglen – June 11

Stonehaven – June 18

Mr simple.

For sure I should have put $10trillion maturing...

Now you made this point.

" the baseline goal should be ensuring families have enough to survive".... So what would you define that as?

Maybe this family with 8 children and 35 dogs? scraping by on £7K a month.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/11/07/couple-paid-7k-month-benefits-left-children-living-filth-36/

Now re AI.. Very be careful what you wish for MPs already calling for a kill switch...We are heading towards Terminators Skynet faster than we imagined..Still if we paint ourselves as zebras we should be ok...

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/06/02/putins-zebra-trucks-confuse-ukraines-ai-drones/

Mr simple

When you say

"UK has an ageing population".. You make it sound like they are a liability.

What can be further from the truth... This is a group who will spend.. What they don't spend will be passed down to the next generation ( trickle down wealth in its purest form)..

Quick post this..

Mr simple

Respect but you always seem to refer back to state pensions when ever benefits mentioned..

You need to look beyond that with 600,000 families at least better off on benefits than working and if you are not sure the Govt is there to help ....

https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators

As Mr leeRex point out there is no doubt Labour is the non workers party. Uncapping child benefits another $3bn added to the bill.

So moving on how Uncle Sam these days.. $39trillion plus in debt with the interest alone cost almost double what has been estimated to have been spent on Iran campaign... Is it a problem?. Well $10bn of that debt needs rolling over this year as it matures and at what coupon will that be?.. Plus appetite for that debt with Japan, Uk and China.. Not so good....well we has to wait and see and only so much Tether ( 17th largest holder) can mop up..

https://tether.io/news/tether-issues-20b-in-usdt-ytd-becomes-one-of-largest-u-s-debt-holders-with-127b-in-treasuries-net-profit-4-9b-in-q2-2025-attestation-report/

As America is chilling in the Middle East the rest of the globe is catching frostbite... What happens when Wall street aligns with main street?

Mr Simple

Of course the purchasing power of the capital is reducing with inflation but the point is can you overcome this with sufficient interest in a savings account

Your example is based on 4.5% savings and 10%+ interest. This is not where we are now is it?... Now we are more or less at parity..

On 6 April 2026, the UK has passed 27 years of the Individual Savings Account (ISA)

"There are 5,000 ISA millionaires in the UK, taking an average of 22 years to get there"...

I note Andrew Craddock, Chief Executive at Darlington Building Society at the Parliamentary hearing regarding reducing ISA allowance say this.That Cash ISAs underpinned the UK mortgage market, since they provided “a vital source of funding for building societies, which is lent out as mortgages to support the UK’s housing market....

Morning Bros.

Mr Simple..

So let look at savings..

Start with the Building Society act 1986 " building societies must ensure at least 50% of their funds come from customer savings (subject to some qualifications), while the remainder can come from sources like bonds, called wholesale funds....

So no deposits ( savings ) no lending.. Well not a problem surely because who need the 51,000 jobs in that industry? .. Also this one 42 building societies, as well as 7 of the larger credit unions. Building societies serve around 26 million consumers across the UK and have total assets of over £507 billion. Together with their subsidiaries, they have helped over 3.5 million families and individuals to buy a home with mortgages totalling over £375 billion, representing 23% of total mortgage balances outstanding in the UK. They are also helping over 23 million people build their financial resilience, holding over £370 billion of retail savings, accounting for 19% of all cash savings in the UK. Within this, societies account for 40% of all cash ISA balances...

Now where it really blow up in his face..

Savings are the safety net for many... When your circumstances or those of the economy change you have it.. We know a inflationary cycle in underway and what better safe guard. The cash or what could be volatile stocks and shares.

So now we got the wheels of the economy all oiled lets look at your other point..

"when the rate of inflation exceeds the net interest rate paid on savings, the real purchasing power of that capital actively depreciates over time"...

Well it is true to a degree but again it depend s how you play this...

I would say this. If you deposit is large enough it will counter any rise in inflation you will notice on a personal level.. So say you have half a million in the Building society ISA at 4.5% interest.. Give you £22,500 tax free . and you bills go up by £500 a month....So where the problem?

For those who keen on the war maybe have a look at this young lady walking past the wall of fallen Ukranian soldiers since 2014..

The wall starts at around 4.15.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WphSIicRSQg&t=451s

Morning Bros..

Mr LeeRex.

Respect.. Richard J Murphy... ?

So you be voting Green party then... This the same Richard Murphy who advocates savings are dead money? I think this is... He obviously not aware how Building societies work or that savings are an insurance policy against just the type of event he jumping up and down about...

Also this you have to remember that Ukraine maybe the cheerful puppet but whose hand is up its back? No talk of negotiations which is a problem. Merz and Kallas will lead us into the danger zone.. confrontation is closer than ever.. Russia also has a formidable war arsenal despite what some may lead us to believe.. Uk huff and puff about Russia but very quiet on Israels war.. Trump hoping he has found an off ramp with Iran. Would be good but things will not go back to how they were...

So QE going to cost circa £125bn...

Any news on lloyds front?.. Well when it closes its next tranche of branches it will no longer have the biggest high street presence.....

On a positive note. looking like Govt pushing through legislation on 10 year max for complaints against banks..As we know financial companies pay around £18m of fees each year to the FOS to investigate claims for old financial products.

Morning Bros..

Lot of interesting comments. I will avoid the hard wars....

If posted before these ones my apology.

Mr Starmer like the barnacle on a ships hull...

Look like unemployment may rise to the 5.6%

Fed showing 8.7% decline in US treasuries held on March 6th. Japan spending $54.7 billion support Yen ( Yahoo finance)..

Interesting problem with French farmers and Cadmium levels from imported fertilizers..Cadmium very toxic ...Even the organic not immune.. Sooner Woodsmith project in the production the better..

So also Charlotte Gill post some interesting data about funding migrant support groups in the Uk. Good thing bad thing you decide but she says.

Asylum Aid (£837,000, 2020-24), Asylum Welcome (£2,881,770, 2021-25), the British Refugee Council (£41,588,000, 2021-25), Migrant Help (£153,592,000, 2020-24), Migrant Training Company (£2,119,910, 2020-24) and Refugee Action (£16,765,000, 2021-25).

obviously DYOR...

So who next the top job.. ?

Mr STP

Respect..

For sure it is a problem.

But think this soon the nice people from Ukraine be able to go back home and waiting them will be a new multi billion dollar ski resort with 25 hotels and

5.500 rooms over almost 3,000 acres.. I hope the Uk citizens get a discount on ticket as from the ring fenced monies we have paid for that...

https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/ukraines-bold-1-2-billion-ski-resort-set-to-redefine-luxury-tourism-near-the-polish-border/

If they need anything else, anything at all no doubt we can look at the triple lock...

So Nationwide recently took over Virgin Money and on 1st May Santander take over (£2.65billion) TSB now make it UK 3rd biggest bank.

Time for LLoyds to step up? If so which direction it go? Another bank/ or BS or maybe a rental giant? Maybe expand more into the £40Bn + car financing market after licking it wounds, not that it may be settle yet. With on the one hand....

"Three lenders and a consumer group have launched legal challenges ...

The financial services arms of carmakers Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz and the car finance arm of French bank Credit Agricole are appealing the plans,

On the other hand, Consumer Voice,challenging the compensation package which it argues will short-change drivers who suffered harm when they took out a loan.

Morning Bros.

Mr Asp

Respect..

"This Gov. is an absolute joke! Grooming gangs inquiry fail! Benefits reform! Two child benefit cap scrapped, Two-Tier Justice? Compulsory Digital ID's"...

For sure is all happening but not funny. It maybe what they not done is the bigger story and what will follow..

Fuel cost at the record highs . Inflation looking baked in and the one you miss, soft on crime especially the shop lifting. Expect that to soar if as predicted we get an inflation shock along with a whole load of other crimes VATP, car crime etc and the one thing the Govt fear the most. This one mass civil unrest... Plenty of anger on the street already.

The attack in Golders Green shocking but in London the knife incidents is 45 a day........

Mr Trouble

Respect

Is a good question that one... Emotions running high and the media not missing the opportunity...

Antisemitism not a good thing but how much really due to Uk Govt and how much due to Netanyahus Israeli Govt "policy"

My own view is that tempers needing cooling and maybe a few arrests and cautions would just help.. These things can get out of hand and the last thing we need is a mass social unrest...Govt also need to reign in the press. Very quick to point finger at Iran and Islam when in the end is may prove to be just another nutter ...

Morning Bros..

Mr Skier1

Respect

Lets see how this one plays out. If the inflation figure in Sept is anything like that Mrs Reeves will need to give her money tree a big shake. Already triple lock under the microscope let alone the rest of the public sector linked payrises ...

Anyone Govt got a new focus with the attacks in Golders Green.. Maybe they forced to do something but big question why that man on the street? Because the system not work...

Mr Breton

Respect.

If you not mind I will post a data set to support what you is saying..

https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/youth-unemployment-rate?continent=europe

But this is a massive failing by Govts. The young are the future of any country...