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Money Box

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Factual: Money

The latest news from the world of personal finance

The latest news from the world of personal finance plus advice for those trying to make the most of their money.

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Money Box: 06/10/2012

06/10/2012

BBC Radio 4 - Money Box, 06/10/2012

Council tax benefits, issues with NatWest's emergency cash app and saving rates.

Paul Lewis with the latest news from the world of personal finance, covering changes to council tax benefits, issues with NatWest's emergency cash app and saving rates.

Paul Lewis brings you the latest news from the world of personal finance.

This week:

Most big banks are exploring new ways for their customers to get easy access to their cash. Natwest has been extolling through TV ads the virtues of its system which allows customers to withdraw money from an ATM by putting in a code without even needing their bank card. But one listener who was defrauded via this new system tells Money Box why he believes Natwest's fraud detection systems need to be much more stringent.

Earlier this week the Bank of England confirmed that the base rate would stay at 0.5%, the level it's been at for more than three years. But anyone looking to invest money can't fail to have noticed that savings rates haven't remained unchanged. They've been dropping. Meanwhile mortgage rates have been rising. Santander recently nudged its standard variable rate up to 4.74% from 4.24%. Anna Bowes director of SavingsChampions.co.uk discusses why savings rates have dipped, possibly to an historic low.

If you receive Council Tax Benefit, then there are big changes ahead. From April, it won't be the government deciding who can and who can't get help to pay their council tax bills. Instead, each local authority in England will decide who is eligible. Pensioners will be protected but Money Box hears from listeners affected by the changes and Paul Lewis talks to Dr Peter Kenway, Director of New Policy Institute, an independent think-tank

And Money Box is 35 years old. How has the world of personal finance changed in that time?

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06/10/2012

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