Financial Services For Lower Incomes

British PoundSome may think that only the financially gifted can afford financial services when in need of loans or other products. That only the wealthy have protections against the demise that awaits them or the requirements which may come about. This, however, is not entirely true as there are remedies for the lower-income workers who are experiencing a need for assistance, particularly now in wake of the toughening UK financial market.

The Leave Behinds

According to a Financial Times article, the National Institute for Economic and Social Research has shown that the disparity with UK households have risen sharply since 1980, polarizing the higher-income wage earner from the lower.

Through this process, those who make less money have been increasingly pushed aside as statistical factors even as they not only contribute to the British economy, but have suffered in accordance against financial troubles within the UK. Even as consumption between the rich and poor have been more or less equal, experts cite credit card expenditures have become the driving force behind the widening chasm between those who have and those who have not.

In that same vein, at the time of the Financial Times article, it was revealed that of 12,000 mortgage products available to UK citizens, 8,000 were intended for low-income wage earners.

Also, with over 40 percent of mortgages that came about before and during the boom years were arranged as interest only, those same lending products have helped to place these individuals in tight spots in which they are no closer to paying off these loans now as five years ago.

Loan Services For Low Incomes

According to resources found on Your Money Guide, good credit appears to helps tremendously in regard to a low-income earner’s ability to obtain a loan. In many lender cases, interest rates have fallen as the lenders battle each other for the top spot on the UK market. Many of these loans are offered at fixed rates for their duration, and consist of a minimum of £7,500 and a maximum of £15,000. For those with fair to poor credit scores, the maximum amount lowers while interest rates rise, both due to increased risk factors on the borrower’s part.

Current Accounts

As banks increasingly slash interest rates on accounts to where they nearly gain no interest at all, some institutions have taken the helm by offering individuals the opportunity to change to higher interest-yielding accounts, often doing so with cash incentives.

In fact, some banks offer up to 5% interest for their better accounts and charge reduced rates that can bottom out close to 0% for overdrafts.

Savings Accounts

Just as current accounts have been victimized by interest-rate slashing, the same as befallen savings accounts, in which little to no interest is offered in lieu of an institution’s granting to hold the average wage earner’s money.

The best approach to this is to find a bank which offers the highest interest rate, whether fixed or variable. In doing this, one should also find out if a bank’s variable rate reverts to a lower point once the introductory period expires.

Also check into what amenities are offered by the bank, such as free abilities to access or change approaches to how an account is handled, particularly when withdrawing money. The less a bank charges for standard tasks in regard to an account, the more favorable that bank should be.