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BoE keeps rates on hold

The Bank of England acted in line with virtually all expectations last week by keeping the base rate of interest on hold at 0.5 per cent.

The rate, which is the lowest in the Bank's 315-year history, will likely bring further joy to those on tracker mortgages and further pain to those who are trying to grow their wealth in savings accounts and bonds.

In its monthly meeting, the Bank also decided to continue with its practice of "quantitative easing", effectively printing more money to pump into the economy.

David Kuo, director at The Motley Fool, said that the country needs to be acutely aware of the risk that doing so could spark rapid inflation.

'[Inflation] is as damaging to our wealth as the credit crunch, but at least we can insure against it by investing in real assets," he commented.

Parents struggle with university costs

Parents with children at university are feeling the pinch during the recession, with 74 per cent finding it more difficult to fund their children through higher education.

This was the headline finding of research carried out by the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), which revealed last week that parents may be in for a further financial shock after their kids graduate.

Research showed that while nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of students expect to be saddled with £20,000 or more by the time they leave university, only ten per cent of parents agreed.

Annabel Brodie-Smith, communications director of AIC, pleaded with parents to get to grips with the realities of funding their children through uni and prepare early for the added financial strain.

"If you can save for your children for the long-term from an early age you can give them a financial advantage in life. The sooner you start investing for your children, the better chance of greater returns," she explained.

Abbey scoops Best Bank award

Abbey was named the Best Bank in the UK for the second year running at the 2009 Euromoney Awards for Excellence, adding to the collection of gongs taken home by parent company Santander.

The bank was voted for by the editors of Euromoney magazine and was commended for outstanding achievements in areas such as profitability, growth and efficiency.

Antonio Horta-Osorio, chief executive of Santander's UK Businesses, said that the company had been proud to pick up last year's award in recognition of the progress that has been made since taking Abbey over.

"To maintain this progress, complete two major acquisitions and deliver outstanding financial results despite the most difficult of market conditions, is even more pleasing," he added.

Santander also took home the awards for the Best Bank in Western Europe, Best Bank in Spain, Chile and Portugal and Best in Project Finance in Latin America.

FSA calls for clearer handling of complaints

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) vowed to clamp down on companies not committed to providing quality service with a new system of publishing all misgivings lodged with banks and other financial service providers.

Under the new arrangement, the sector will be forced to keep track of how many complaints have been lodged and how many have been resolved, with data on the whole industry being made available to the public every six months.

The organisation insisted that it will allow customers to make more informed decisions when selecting providers in five key areas: banking, home finance, general insurance and pure protection, life and pensions, and investments.

"To make it easier for people to understand the data and compare the standard of different firms' complaints handling, firms will need to provide contextual information such as the number of complaints per 1000 customer accounts," the FSA added.

22.5 per cent of Brits cannot find a mortgage

One of the more alarming figures to emerge last week was the statistic that 22.5 per cent of people are unable to find a mortgage they are qualified for anywhere on the market.

The revelation came in research carried out by the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) outlining the growing discontent among customers trying to get a mortgage during this difficult period.

More than half (58 per cent) of the 1,800 people surveyed said they believed that the UK will not pull out of the property slump unless banks begin to open their doors to mortgage customers once more.

"The government must do more to put pressure on those banks that are refusing to lend, while highlighting those banks that are easing restrictions to help get the economy moving again," insisted Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the NAEA.

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