UK money news stories - 5 February 2025

Millions face council tax rise of more than 5% 

The Government has allowed six local authorities to bypass the 4.99% cap on council tax increases with one area pushing it up by 10%. Will you be affected?

Barclays issues compensation update after thousands of customers left unable to make payments

After Barclays’ tech outage at the weekend, loads of customers couldn’t make or receive payments. Worse still, it started on Friday - the self assessment tax return deadline. Barclays has said no customer will be left out of pocket as a result of the issues, so if you were charged late fees for missed payments or your credit report has been affected, make sure you speak to them.

Exclusive research: over half of people would never get a joint account

Is the joint account dead? Be Clever With Your Cash has done some research and it’s revealed some surprising insights into what people think about linking their finances with someone else and whether they’d ever consider it. 

Nectar finally launches 'lock' feature on loyalty card app after millions of points were stolen 

Nectar customers can now lock their accounts via the app until their ready to spend their points which will hopefully stop thieves from stealing them. Here’s how the new feature works. 

Rise in scam job texts to teens from fraudsters posing as TikTok staff, study finds

There’s been a rise in young people being targeted over text by fraudsters offering them ‘too good to be true’ jobs at TikTok. If you’ve got kids or grandkids, be sure to warn them!

eBay is introducing new fees in huge shake-up for buyers

This week eBay customers will pay new charges when they buy from private sellers. The ‘buyer protection fee’, included in the listing price, includes a flat charge of 75p plus a percentage of the cost.