Tag: Which?

Community Access to Cash pilot schemes are under way

Nine communities across the UK are taking part in a trial to help address the challenge of improving access to cash. Two – Cambuslang and Denny – are in central Scotland.

The Community Access to Cash Pilot (CACP) initiative chose the communities based on the location, the issues the communities faced, and the local people willing to lead the pilots.

Each community will trial a number of different solutions, based on meeting the needs of local communities. These include:

  • Three new local ‘banking hubs’ in dedicated retail spaces on the high street, which combine the cash-transaction facilities of a Post Office with access to community banking services offered by the key retail banks, allowing the privacy and security people expect in a bank branch
  • Speedy and automated local cash deposit facilities for small businesses, so that retailers don’t have to close to travel to a nearby town bank branch to deposit their takings
  • Existing Post Office branches restructured and refurbished with cash services streamlined to make it easier for local residents and businesses to withdraw and deposit cash quickly and safely.
  • Pop-up Post Office services, allowing small communities to access basic banking services over a Post Office counter within an existing small shop
  • Widespread ‘cashback’ from local stores, restaurants and pubs – as well as from PayPoint counters, and new app-based digital services – to widen the options for people to get cash locally, and to help business reduce their own costs of depositing cash
  • New, free to use ATMs
  • Digital education services to help those who want to access digital banking services

The original plan was for each pilot community to start implementing their solutions over the remainder of 2020, with the aim that they are all fully operational by the end of 2020. The pilots were to operate for the first six months of the 2021, reporting back their findings in the summer of 2021. However the timetable has been revised due to the Covid pandemic.

The pilots operate in a wider context of a UK-wide cash infrastructure under threat, millions dependent on cash, and a government commitment to legislate to protect cash access. The aim of these pilots is to trial solutions which could have wider applicability across the UK.

CACP is chaired by Natalie Ceeney CBE, the author of the Access to Cash Review and brings together the resources and expertise of the financial services industry (including all of the major retail banks) with those of the Access to Review panel.

The team is also working closely with a wide range of local and national consumer groups and charities to bring in depth expertise to help support the work.

Speaking when the initaitve was launched last year, Natalie Ceeney, Chair, Community Access to Cash Pilot, said: “Cash remains critically important to both individuals and communities across the UK. The rapid switch to digital is threatening the viability of today’s cash infrastructure.

“This can lead to consumers left without cash access or forced to leave their own village or town to get cash elsewhere, often at significant inconvenience and cost. In turn, local retailers lose custom, as consumers spend their cash elsewhere, and then struggle to bank their cash takings without shutting up shop to drive to a bank branch some miles away, losing revenue and frustrating customers. It’s critical that we find ways to protect the viability of cash, for consumers and communities alike.

“These pilots are designed to find sustainable ways to keep cash viable locally, which, if successful, can then be rolled out more widely. The government has already committed to legislate to protect cash, and the financial services regulators are working closely with banks to identify practical next steps. Our aim is to use the pilots to critically inform this work.

“The work we’ve done with local communities has shown us in some detail what is needed. It’s clear that to keep communities viable, people need to be able to get cash easily, in a variety of ways. ATMs are important, but don’t meet everyone’s needs, particularly the most vulnerable, so being able to get cash over a counter, in a safe space, is still important to many. Small businesses equally need to be able to deposit cash, and locally, so that they don’t need to close their shop to bank their cash.

“These pilots will use innovative technology to help people access and deposit cash. The pilots will also work with key existing service providers to explore how they can support the cash infrastructure, by creating local drop in spaces for community banking, retailers offering cashback widely and Post Offices enhancing their services to create a new model of ‘Post Office Banking Hubs’.

“The commitment of the major banks, the Post Office, LINK and key consumer groups to all work together on this initiative gives us confidence that we can create solutions which keep cash viable in a sustainable way.”

Nick Read, Chief Executive, Post Office: “Our branches provide critical cash deposit and withdrawals services for millions of personal and business customers every week. We will use these pilots to trial new designs in selected branches; and introduce automated cash deposit facilities for business and personal customers who may have previously used this service at a bank branch.

“Everyone should have the right to use cash and be able to easily and securely access it wherever is most convenient to them. We are pleased to be playing a key role in these pilots and our Postmasters who are taking part will be in a position to share important insights that will make a real difference as to how we continue to best meet peoples’ cash needs in future.”

Alison Rose, CEO, NatWest: “We know that cash is an important part of the way that many communities across the UK bank with us, which is why we have worked with the industry to help create this pilot programme.

“The lessons we learn from working with communities to develop innovative solutions are really important as we continue to invest in sustaining access to cash and financial capability.”

John Glen MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister: “Cash remains important to the daily lives of millions of people across the UK, and protecting access to it is a key Government priority.

“I welcome the Community Access to Cash Pilot Initiative, which will test innovative new approaches to support access to cash in local communities that can be extended across the UK. Thank you to Natalie Ceeney and all industry participants for their important work to ensure we support consumers and businesses who continue to need to use cash.”

Two of the nine locations are in Scotland:

Cambuslang:

Cambuslang is a town of c.28,600 people, the third largest town in South Lanarkshire, but since 2018 has been unbanked following the closures of branches by three banks in quick succession.

According to the latest version of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), some 40% of areas (data zones) in Cambuslang East and 25% in Cambuslang West are in the bottom 20% of the SIMD.

The Cambuslang community are keen to address two key issues, first, supporting financially vulnerable customers in accessing cash, and second, supporting small businesses to be able to access and bank cash.

The local leaders of this pilot, Cambuslang Community Council, are passionate about the opportunity to support their community though better access to cash, education and, ultimately, influencing the coming legislation change.  

The Cambuslang community will be piloting:

  • A Post Office Banking Hub in an empty retail outlet, with the Post Office offering transactional services in a private environment, with community banking support from the major banks, debt advice, and support for financial issues
  • A ‘Drop and Go’ cash deposit facility for small businesses in the Banking Hub to make it easier for local businesses to bank cash, whichever bank they are with
  • Cashback with purchase offered by a large number of local stores
  • Cashback without purchase offered by PayPoint convenience stores
  • Widespread advertisement of what the banks can offer vulnerable customers
  • Digital education services to help those who want to access digital banking services, designed for the Cambuslang community
  • A Vulnerable Customer Directory – ensuring that everyone is aware of the services that the retail banks can offer to vulnerable customers 

Denny (Falkirk): 

Denny is a small town located between Edinburgh and Glasgow, with a population of circa 8,000, and with 16% of the population over 65 years old. They are a semi-urban location that has seen a reduction in their access to cash facilities.

They are looking to improve the cash deposit and withdrawal facilities for both small local retailers and consumers, and also want to support their community to be able to budget and access cash digitally.

The Denny community will be piloting:

  • Cashback with purchase offered by a large number of local stores
  • A refreshed Post Office with improved cash facilities which can better meet community needs
  • Cashback without purchase offered by PayPoint convenience stores
  • Digital education services to help those who want to access digital banking services
  • A Vulnerable Customer Directory – offering support to those who need it
  • A digital solution to coin recycling supported by Shrap – an innovative new service which allows consumers to store change on a card or app, saving retailers from managing small change  
  • A Vulnerable Customer Directory – ensuring that everyone is aware of the services that the retail banks can offer to vulnerable customers

Gareth Shaw, Which? Head of Money, said: “These initiatives could have a really positive impact on communities that have seen sharp cuts to their cash machine and bank branch networks in recent years, which have forced some cash dependent consumers to travel unreasonable distances or face hefty charges to withdraw their own money.

“However, in order for cash to remain a viable option for people across the UK, the government must take action. It needs to urgently set out when it will introduce the legislation it promised last year to protect access to cash, and put a wider strategy in place that ensures people who depend on cash are not cut off from the money they need to pay for essentials.”

Lords report: Over half of UK citizens ‘financially vulnerable’

The House of Lords Liaison Committee has published its third follow-up report; Tackling Financial Exclusion: A country that works for everyone?

This report examines the progress made by the Government in the implementation of the recommendations made by the Select Committee on Financial Exclusion in its 2017 report Tackling Financial Exclusion: A country that works for everyone?

In the Liaison Committee’s report Review of House of Lords Investigative and Scrutiny Committees: towards a new thematic committee structure published in July 2019, the Committee recommended that the Liaison Committee (on a case by case basis) could hold follow-up evidence sessions on a former special inquiry committee’s recommendations, followed by the publication of a report.

This is the third occasion on which this new procedure has been utilised.

The inquiry found that over half of the population are classed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as having characteristics of financial vulnerability.

This issue has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic with 14.2m people in the UK now estimated to have low financial resilience – characterised by over-indebtedness or with low levels of savings or low or erratic earnings.

Types of financial exclusion can include: not being able to open a bank account, not being able to access financial services due to bank branch and ATM closures, not being able to access affordable credit.

The report recommended that a clear Government strategy and increased FCA powers are brought forward in order to stop people experiencing financial exclusion.

The report calls on the Government to introduce a requirement for the FCA to establish a statutory Duty of Care that banks and other financial services providers must operate toward their customers. This should replace the current insufficient requirement to ‘treat customers fairly’.

Other recommendations in the Committee’s report, Tackling Financial Exclusion: A country that works for everyone? follow-up report are:

  • The proposed legislation to protect access to cash should be brought forward without delay.
  • The Government should publish the timescale and details on the no-interest loan pilot.
  • The powers of the FCA to mitigate the trends in bank branch and free ATM closures should be reviewed and enhanced.
  • The Government should continue to work with the Post Office and UK Finance to roll out a public information campaign about the banking services that the Post Office offers.

Baroness Tyler of Enfield, who was Chair of the Select Committee on Financial Exclusion, said: “It’s time for the financial services industry to recognise they have a fundamental duty to ensure that banks act in their customers’ best interests and that products and services are fair by design.

“That duty of care should now be established in law and overseen by the Financial Conduct Authority to ensure greater consumer protection and prevent banks and others from profiting from their customer’s vulnerability.

“The COVID crisis has laid bare the extent of financial exclusion across the UK. We continue have more than a million adults in the UK without access to a bank account and more than half the country now have characteristics of financial vulnerability.

“It is now more important than ever that Government come forward with a comprehensive financial inclusion strategy that will ensure access to cash, protect the public and end the scandal of the poorest being overcharged for financial and other services. The Government should publish that strategy within 12 months and allow Parliament to assess it and hold them to account for its delivery.”

Gareth Shaw, Which? Head of Money, said: “Millions of people rely on cash as they are not ready or able to take advantage of digital payments. However, rapid closures to the cash machine and bank branch networks in recent years mean that many of these consumers risk being abandoned by their banks.

“Our research has shown that people in some deprived areas have seen significant cuts to free ATMs in recent years, while a domino effect of bank branch closures has taken place without enough regard to whether suitable alternatives are in place.

“The government must urgently set out its vision for the future of cash, including its promised legislation to protect access to it. This should include putting the FCA in charge of the cash system so that it can take the steps that are needed to ensure cash remains a viable payment option for as long as it is needed.”

Biggest mobile providers outshone by smaller rivals, Which? reveals

The UK’s biggest mobile providers have fallen short on value for money and are being outperformed by smaller rivals who piggyback on their networks, according to Which?’s annual customer satisfaction survey.  

During the pandemic, more people than ever have turned to their phones and technology as a way to keep in touch with family and friends.

The Big Four mobile providers – O2, EE, Vodafone and Three – serve nearly nine in 10 UK customers.

However, in Which?’s annual customer satisfaction survey, smaller providers that use the Big Four’s networks managed to outdo them across the board – including on value for money, customer service and network reliability.

O2 scored the highest of the Big Four providers and earned joint fifth place out of 15 providers, alongside Utility Warehouse.

It received a high rating for ease of contact, but its customers considered it below average for value for money. Only a quarter (23%) rated it as being ‘excellent’ in this area.

However, GiffGaff, Tesco Mobile and Sky Mobile, which all piggyback on O2’s network, triumphed over their larger rival in Which? rankings. GiffGaff came in first place and earned strong ratings in several categories with 91 per cent of customers saying they’d recommend it to a friend.

Tesco Mobile came in joint second place with Sky Mobile and SMARTY. Both Sky Mobile and Tesco Mobile scored higher than O2 on value for money – an area all of the Big Four providers fell short on in our survey.

EE and Vodafone came in the bottom half of the rankings. Both EE and Vodafone performed poorly on value for money. This is perhaps unsurprising given that 7 per cent of their customers received incorrect or unexpectedly high bills – the highest across all the providers.

Three earned the lowest score of the Big Four providers. Value for money and network reliability were key weak points for Three.

Three customers were the most likely to experience network outages lasting more than one whole day (8%) and one in ten (10%) experienced unexpected or unreasonable price hikes.

One Three customer responding to Which?’s survey said that a universal change in tariff had made it more expensive for them to use the provider despite having a substantial balance to use up.

Like O2, Three was beaten by a smaller operator using its network. SMARTY is owned by Three and is a new entrant to Which?’s survey at joint second place.

The highest-scoring mobile providers are eligible for Which? Recommended Provider (WRP) status, which also requires providers to offer reasonably priced contract deals, including Sim-only.

Ofcom now requires all providers to notify customers when their telecoms contracts come to an end. Which? encourages consumers to compare the deals available when their contract comes to end – even if they’re planning to stay with their current provider – to ensure they aren’t overpaying.

Rocio Concha, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Which?, said: “Our research found that the biggest mobile providers are being outshone by their smaller rivals. A provider should not only give you good network reliability but also value for money and customer support when you need it.

“If customers are out of contract but happy with the service they’re receiving, they should try negotiating a new deal but if all else fails it might be time to switch.”

Read more about Which?’s mobile switching service: 

https://mobilephones.which.co.uk/

Global Travel Taskforce: Travel has its wings clipped by cautious UK Government report

Vague and costly recommendations are not enough to reboot aviation and tourism sectors facing another summer without international travel, says Westminster’s Transport Committee.

Lack of clarity

In an analysis of the Government’s Global Travel Taskforce Report, the  Committee concludes that the Report sets out a framework without the detail required to restart international travel. Where detail is provided, the costs may be disproportionate to the risk and add £500 on to the cost of a family of four travelling to the safest parts of the globe where the vaccine roll-out is comparable to the UK.

This distinct lack of clarity does not offer confidence to industry or consumers to plan, invest or recover from the coronavirus pandemic. It leaves the planned safe restart of international travel on May 17 in jeopardy.

The UK’s aviation and tourism sectors were poised to accommodate the public’s desire to travel for business, study, holidays and to visit loved-ones. The UK [aviation industry] has been one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, according to the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation. Another summer without international travel heralds significant economic adversity.

Recommendations

In its Report, the Committee sets out four clear recommended actions for Government:

  • Populate the traffic-light framework with destination countries by May 1 and announce the details in a statement to Parliament.
  • Explain the criteria and mechanism by which countries will move between risk categories by May 1.
  • Offer an affordable testing regime that supports public health and safe travel for everyone by maximising the role of lateral flow tests and ensuring the provision of affordable polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, where required.
  • Act immediately to reduce waiting times and queues at the UK border, including working bilaterally with partner countries to agree mutual recognition of travel health certification, deploying more staff at the border, processing passenger locator forms before passengers arrive in the UK and establishing an efficient system based on a single digital app to process health certification submitted in a range of languages.

Transport Committee Chair, Huw Merriman MP, said: “The aviation and travel sectors were crying out for a functional report, setting out clear rules and offering certainty. This is not it.

“Where the industry craved certainty, the Government has failed to provide it. For UK citizens seeking to travel to the parts of the globe where the vaccine has been delivered as rapidly as the UK, the cost to families from testing could be greater than the cost of the flights. 

“This is a missed opportunity for the Government to capitalise on the UK’s world-leading ‘vaccine dividend’. How can it be right that hauliers, arriving from parts of the globe where the vaccine roll-out is slow, are able to use cheaper lateral flow testing whilst a trip back from Israel requires a PCR test which is four times as expensive?

“This was an opportunity to provide a global lead with standardised rules on international health certification and promoting app-based technology, making the processes at borders more secure and less time consuming. The urgent situation facing the aviation and travel sectors warrants a clear action plan to green light our travel – and the Government must urgently set it out.”

Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel, said: “The government is reliant on factors outside its control in restarting international travel, including high and changing infection rates in many countries, so it’s understandable that it cannot provide clarity on where people can go yet. However, it needs to do a better job of fixing the issues it does control.

“Given the government has now dropped its advice not to book holidays, consumers need clarity on how the traffic light system will work and reassurance that last-minute changes won’t leave them facing thousand pound bills – as they did last summer.

“Test costs remain too high and risk pricing millions out of travel, while the problem of passengers queuing for several hours at border control at some UK airports has been going on for months.

“If people are to travel this summer, whether to see loved ones or on holiday, they need the government to make sure it is affordable and safe.”

Travel Taskforce sets out framework to safely reopen international travel

  • Global Travel Taskforce sets out approach to safely restarting international travel
  • recommendations include launch of a new traffic light system and ‘green watchlist’, and the introduction of travel certification
  • government’s priority remains to protect the public and the vaccine rollout from international coronavirus (COVID-19) variants of concern

A framework to chart the safe return of international travel was set out on Friday (9 April 2021) by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

A traffic light system, which will categorise countries based on risk alongside the restrictions required for travel, will be set up to protect the public and the vaccine rollout from international COVID-19 variants.

Key factors in the assessment will include:

  • the percentage of their population that have been vaccinated
  • the rate of infection
  • the prevalence of variants of concern
  • the country’s access to reliable scientific data and genomic sequencing

The report, produced by the Global Travel Taskforce, shows how international travel could resume from 17 May 2021 at the earliest, in an accessible and affordable way. This includes the removal of the permission to travel form – meaning passengers would no longer need to prove they have a valid reason to leave the country.

The UK is a global leader in genome sequencing, which in positive cases allows the identification of variants of concern.

The risks posed by these variants remain significant, and restrictions for inbound passengers, such as 10-day managed quarantine, home quarantine, and stringent testing will remain in place – but will apply to people differently depending on whether the destination visited is categorised as ‘green’, ‘amber’ or ‘red’.

  • Green: arrivals will need to take a pre-departure test as well as a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on or before day 2 of their arrival back into the UK – but will not need to quarantine on return (unless they receive a positive result) or take any additional tests, halving the cost of tests on their return from holiday
  • Amber: arrivals will need to quarantine for a period of 10 days and take a pre-departure test, and a PCR test on day 2 and day 8 with the option for Test to Release on day 5 to end self-isolation early
  • Red: arrivals will be subject to restrictions currently in place for ‘red list’ countries which include a 10-day stay in a managed quarantine hotel, pre-departure testing and PCR testing on day 2 and 8

Testing remains an essential part of protecting public health as restrictions begin to ease – with all arrivals who are not exempt required to book a pre-departure, day 2 and day 8 test before travelling.

Arrivals travelling from ‘red list’ countries should book a quarantine package before departure, and arrivals from ‘amber’ and ‘green’ countries will be required to book test packages before travelling from one of the government’s approved list of providers.

Testing post-arrival remains an important tool in our wider measures to manage the risk of imported cases – allowing us to monitor positive tests and ensure people isolate, as well as identify and genomically sequence variants of concern.

We will also work with the travel industry and private testing providers ahead of international travel reopening, to see how we can further reduce the cost of travel for the British public, while ensuring travel is as safe as possible.

This could include cheaper tests being used when holidaymakers return home, as well as whether the government would be able to provide pre-departure tests.

It is too early to predict which countries will be on which list over the summer, and the government continues to consider a range of factors to inform the restrictions placed on them. We will set out by early May which countries will fall into which category, as well as confirming whether international travel can resume from 17 May 2021.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “International travel is vital – it boosts businesses and underpins the UK economy – but more than that, it brings people together, connects families who have been kept apart, and allows us to explore new horizons.

“The framework announced today will help allow us to reopen travel safely and sustainably, ensure we protect our hard-won achievements on the vaccine roll out, and offer peace of mind to both passengers and industry as we begin to take trips abroad once again.”

The UK will also play a leading role in the development of international standards around a digital travel certification system.

The Department for Transport (DfT) is working across government to consider the role certification could play in facilitating outbound travel, for those countries which have systems in place. Work also continues to develop a system that would facilitate travel certification for inbound international travel.

To give passengers more certainty when travelling, a ‘green watchlist’ will be introduced to help identify countries most at risk of moving from ‘green’ to ‘amber’. The watchlist will provide greater assurance for those who wish to travel abroad.

While the watchlist will warn travellers of potential changes in advance, the government will not hesitate to act immediately should the data show that countries risk ratings have changed.

The allocation of countries will be kept under review and respond to emerging evidence, with a particular focus on variants of concern.

Restrictions will be formally reviewed on 28 June 2021 to take account of the domestic and international health picture, and to see whether current measures could be rolled back. Further formal reviews will take place at checkpoints no later than 31 July and 1 October 2021.

To ensure the UK’s borders remain safe and efficient when passenger flows increase, the government has also announced plans to digitise the passenger locator form, integrating it into the UK border system and enabling checks to take place at e-gates by autumn 2021.

To further boost consumer confidence, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will be given additional enforcement powers to act on airlines that have breached consumer rights – with a dedicated consultation on how to use additional tools to enforce consumer rights expected later this year.

A COVID-19 charter will also be introduced from 17 May 2021, clearly setting out what is required of passengers and what their rights are while measures remain in place.

Responding to the announcement Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel, said: “This is an important step towards resuming international travel. The report correctly identifies some of the key barriers facing travellers, but it falls short in providing solutions.

“Holidaymakers will still face the eye-watering costs of Covid tests, which are currently much more expensive in the UK than in many other European countries, and risk pricing people out of taking a holiday. 

“There is also little detail on reassurances that destinations won’t suddenly be moved from green to amber or red, putting travellers at risk of last-minute changes and unaffordable quarantine costs. 

“It is encouraging to hear plans to give the CAA greater powers to tackle the consistent lawbreaking we saw on refunds from some airlines in the last year. These must be sufficiently tough, and give the ability to fine airlines directly for past behaviour to ensure they won’t step out of line again.”

CMA intervention leads to further Facebook action on fake reviews

  • Facebook to make it harder for people to find groups and profiles that buy and sell fake reviews
  • 16,000 trading groups removed with suspensions or bans for users who create these groups
  • it comes after CMA investigation found more evidence of misleading content

This latest action by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) follows reports that fake and misleading reviews continued to be bought and sold on the social media platforms.

In January 2020, Facebook committed to better identify, investigate and remove groups and other pages where fake and misleading reviews were being traded, and prevent them from reappearing.

Facebook gave a similar pledge in relation to its Instagram.com business in May 2020, after the CMA had identified similar concerns.

A follow-up investigation found evidence that the illegal trade in fake reviews was still taking place on both Facebook and Instagram and the CMA intervened for a second time.

Facebook has now removed a further 16,000 groups that were dealing in fake and misleading reviews. It has also made further changes to its systems for identifying, removing and preventing such content on its social media platforms to ensure it is fulfilling its previous commitments.

These include:

  • suspending or banning users who are repeatedly creating Facebook groups and Instagram profiles that promote, encourage or facilitate fake and misleading reviews
  • introducing new automated processes that will improve the detection and removal of this content
  • making it harder for people to use Facebook’s search tools to find fake and misleading review groups and profiles on Facebook and Instagram
  • putting in place dedicated processes to make sure that these changes continue to work effectively and stop the problems from reappearing

Andrea Coscelli, Chief Executive of the CMA, said: “Never before has online shopping been so important. The pandemic has meant that more and more people are buying online, and millions of us read reviews to enable us to make informed choices when we shop around.

“That’s why fake and misleading reviews are so damaging – if people lose trust in online reviews, they are less able to shop around with confidence, and will miss out on the best deals. It also means that businesses playing by the rules miss out.

“Facebook has a duty to do all it can to stop the trading of such content on its platforms. After we intervened again, the company made significant changes – but it is disappointing it has taken them over a year to fix these issues.

“We will continue to keep a close eye on Facebook, including its Instagram business. Should we find it is failing to honour its commitments, we will not hesitate to take further action.”

This move follows the UK Government’s announcement that a dedicated Digital Markets Unit (DMU) will be set up within the CMA from April 2021.

Once the necessary legislation is in place, this will introduce and enforce a new code for governing the behaviour of platforms that currently dominate the market. As part of this process, the CMA has been advising government on the design and implementation of a pro-competition regime for digital markets.

Rocio Concha, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Which?, said: “We’ve previously raised the alarm about fake review factories continuing to operate at scale on Facebook, leaving online shoppers at huge risk of being misled. The tech giant failed to meet its earlier commitment to the CMA, so it is positive that the regulator has stepped in and demanded more robust action.

“Facebook must deliver this time round – it has shown it has the sophisticated technology to eradicate these misleading review groups and needs to do so much more swiftly and effectively.

“The CMA and Facebook now need to monitor the situation and if the problems persist the regulator must take stronger measures to ensure that trust in online reviews does not continue to be undermined.

“Online platforms should also have greater legal responsibility for tackling fake and fraudulent content and activity on their sites.”

For more information on the CMA’s fake reviews work, please see the dedicated webpage: Fake and misleading online reviews trading.

Which? warns people to hold off on booking summer holidays

Consumer champion Which? is warning holidaymakers to hold off booking trips abroad until more details become clear.

Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel, said: “Millions of people will be excited to know their next holiday abroad might not be too far off, but the current guidance leaves too many questions unanswered about important aspects of foreign travel – so we would advise consumers to hold off on booking a holiday until the details become clearer.

“Apart from not knowing where we can go and when, the government has also warned that countries will be moved between green, amber and red. Until it details how these changes will take place, consumers face the risk of 10 days quarantine and paying for additional tests, or worse, having to pay £1,750 for hotel quarantine.

“There also remain questions over what the total cost of testing will be for trips, which currently runs into the hundreds of pounds, and what steps will be taken to ensure testing is affordable and accessible. It is vital that the government provides clarity on these issues before people think about parting with their money.”

Top of the stops!

Which? reveals the UK’s best and worst motorway service stations

Gloucester and Tebay services have been named Britain’s best service stations, while Bridgwater in the south west of England has been ranked the worst, according to a new survey from Which?.

As UK holidaymakers prepare to hit the road this summer, the consumer champion has revealed the country’s best and worst service stations for a pitstop on the way to their destination.

Which? surveyed more than 2,700 members covering around 5,600 experiences at almost 70 motorway service stations across the UK. Members rated them on various criteria, including range of facilities, prices, and ease of social distancing.

Though some respondents dismissed service stations as “all the same”, the survey found stark differences across the country – particularly with regards to cleanliness. The best and worst ranked services were only an hour’s drive apart on the M5, showing the value of planning ahead when it comes to taking a break on a long journey.

The top three service stations all belong to Westmorland. Gloucester (on the M5), Tebay (on the M6 at the edge of the Lake District) and Cairn Lodge (on the M74 in Lanarkshire) ranked first, second and third in the table, respectively.

Gloucester received the top score of 86 per cent, scoring five stars for cleanliness, range and quality of its shops and food outlets, as well as its range of facilities.

One visitor described Gloucester services as “as far from a typical motorway stop as you can imagine”, where customers can enjoy home cooked meals and buy local produce from the “fabulous” farm shop.

Tebay received similar praise, with a score of 83 per cent and plaudits for the freshly prepared food on offer in the restaurant and for sale in the farm shop, while Cairn Lodge was given a score of 69 per cent.

At the other end of the table was Bridgwater on the M5, owned by Moto. The service station received a dismal score of 32 per cent, and was awarded just one star in every category. 

Recent visitors described it as “dirty” and “depressing”, and others complained of a urine smell and toilet paper strewn on the floor. Another simply said it “should be demolished”.

Welcome Break was responsible for half of the 10 service stations at the bottom of the table – more than any other brand. 

Its service station in Gordano came just ahead of Bridgwater, with a score of 40 per cent, while its services in Newport Pagnell (41%), Keele (42%), London Gateway (45%), and Birchanger Green (45%) also populated the bottom 10. 

Even its highest scoring service station, found in Warwick, scored a decidedly average 57 per cent.

Roadchef runs three of the services listed in the bottom 10, including Watford Gap on the M1 (43%) and Sandbach on the M6 (42%), both of which earned a dismal one star for their range of facilities and just two stars for cleanliness.

Often, drivers can have a much better experience by planning ahead to ensure they stop at one of the better service stations on their route. For example, those driving north on the M6 between junctions 36 and 39 have the choice of stopping at Tebay or Killington Lake, scoring 83 per cent and 52 per cent, respectively. 

The two stations are just 12 miles apart, with both benefiting from picturesque surroundings – but visitors were much more positive about Tebay than Killington Lake, with customers at the latter complaining of long queues and difficulty in adhering to social distancing.

Meanwhile on the M1, Donington (60%) is far superior to Trowell (46%), as is Cairn Lodge (69%) to Abington (49%) on the M74.

Some domestic travel restrictions in England are set to lift on 12 April at the earliest, when overnight stays at self-contained accommodation will be allowed, with further restrictions expected to ease no earlier than 17 May when hotels and B&Bs will be able to reopen for leisure stays.

Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel, said: “The results of our survey show that it pays to plan ahead to avoid some of the UK’s worst motorway services. It could be the difference between a home-cooked meal in peaceful surroundings, or crowded queues in downright dirty facilities.

“Whether you’re zipping down the M5 towards the beaches on the south-west coast, or up the M6 towards the Scottish border, make sure your journey isn’t spoiled by a stop at a shoddy service station.”

Crack down on tech firms ‘immoral’ profiting from online pension scam adverts, urge MPs

A report from Westminster’s Work and Pensions Committee is calling on the UK Government to ‘act quickly and decisively’ to protect pension savers, more than five years on from the introduction of the pension freedoms, which have put people at risk of a much wider range of scams and fraud.

The report warns that commonly cited figures of the scale of pension scamming are likely to substantially underestimate the problem.

The situation is likely to be getting worse rather than better, with the covid-19 pandemic offering scammers new opportunities.

The Committee heard throughout its inquiry that pension scammers have moved online, with regulators powerless to hold search engines and social media to account for hosting scam adverts as they do traditional media.

Tech firms such as Google are accepting payment to advertise scams and then further payments from regulators to publish warnings – a practice the Committee describes as ‘immoral’.

The Government must now rethink its decision to exclude financial harms from the forthcoming Online Safety Bill and use it to legislate against online investment fraud.

In the same way as traditional media, online publishers should be required to ensure financial promotions are authorised.

The report also calls for the multi-agency task force set up to tackle pension fraud to be strengthened.

The existing Project Bloom should be renamed the Pension Scams Centre and given dedicated funding and staffing to manage an intelligence database and law enforcement.

Currently the fragmentation of reporting, investigation and enforcement has made tackling pension scams more difficult.

The Financial Conduct Authority must also ‘raise its game’ and publish information about its enforcement action, with the Committee hearing numerous criticisms that it is not effective in stopping scams, punishing scammers or retrieving scam proceeds.

Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP, Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, said: “The pension freedoms brought more choice for savers on how to use their pension pots, but the reforms have also opened up a whole new world of opportunity for scammers and fraudsters.

“At the same time, a woeful lack of online regulation has helped them reach more people than ever before.

“The result is an online free for all, where scammers can advertise with impunity while the tech giants line their pockets from the proceeds of their crimes.

“With global firms such as Google being increasingly influential as providers of information, consumers looking for financial advice are being let down by not being afforded the same level of protection they receive from adverts which appear on television or in a newspaper.

“There must now be parity across the media to ensure all adverts are regulated and the Government should use its Online Safety Bill to act.

“Tighter online regulation must be just the first step in improving protections for savers. Stronger enforcement with a new Pensions Scams Centre, a more effective FCA and extra support for victims are also desperately needed.

“Pension scams can cause huge financial harm and psychological distress and any one of us saving for the future is at risk of falling prey to a scammer.

“The Government and the regulators have been left playing catch-up following the pension freedom reforms and must now act quickly to protect savers and their hard-earned money.”

Rocio Concha, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Which?, said: “This report is a damning indictment of the approach of tech giants like Google to tackling scams.

“These companies have some of the most sophisticated technology in the world, yet they are failing to utilise it to prevent scammers from abusing the platforms by using fake and fraudulent content on an industrial scale to target victims and devastate lives.

“The case for including scams in the Online Safety Bill is overwhelming. Online platforms must be given a legal responsibility to identify, prevent and remove fake and fraudulent content from appearing on their sites and give their users the protection they deserve. The government must not miss the opportunity to act now.”

Which? warns consumer concerns risk being overlooked in plans to restart international travel

Plans to restart foreign travel for millions of people could be doomed to fail if the government does not effectively consult consumers and reassure them that trips abroad will be safe, affordable and their refund rights will be upheld, according to Which?.

The UK government’s Global Travel Taskforce (GTT) is due to outline how it will restart international travel, currently set to reopen no earlier than 17 May, when it publishes its report in early April.

However, Which? is concerned that limited opportunities for travellers to engage with the GTT could mean that their concerns won’t be addressed ahead of international travel reopening. 

The GTT page on the government’s website says it is consulting with a range of groups, including the transport industry, international partners, the tourism sector, the private testing sector, and academia and policy institutes.

Engagement with consumers seems to be largely limited to an email address that travellers can send their concerns about travel reopening to, and even this is not listed clearly on the GTT web page for passengers to find.

Today, Which? is publishing its list of consumer priorities for travel, which the GTT must take on board if its plans to restart international travel are to be successful. They focus on vital measures to build passenger confidence around the safety of travel, accessibility and affordability of Covid tests and vaccine passports and assurances that holidaymakers will not be left out of pocket by coronavirus travel disruption.

Which? is also urging people to share their experiences with the Taskforce of how the pandemic has affected their travel plans over the past year and their concerns ahead of travel reopening via email or social media in the two weeks left before the GTT is due to report.

For more than a year now, the consumer champion has been hearing from people who have been let down by their travel provider after the pandemic grounded most international travel, which saw confidence in the industry plunge to a record low. 

According to the Competition and Markets Authority, cancellation and refund complaints have accounted for the overwhelming majority of complaints to the regulator since April 2020, with around 47,000 cancellation complaints about holiday companies since March 2020, and more than 10,000 cancellation complaints about airlines. 

Though many holiday companies and airlines have since improved their performance, Which? is warning that travellers risk facing another summer of chaos and cancelled holidays if the government does not provide assurances around safety, testing costs, health travel certificates, and how bookings will be protected from changing travel restrictions and associated costs, such as Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) warnings against travel or the potential of costly hotel quarantine for arrivals from popular destinations.

With the risk of variants of the virus present in other countries being transmitted and brought back to the UK, it is essential that the government ensures that effective measures are put in place to ensure international travel is safe, particularly in airports.

Last summer, Which? reported that passengers endured queues in Stansted Airport with no social distancing, raising concerns around how airports will cope this summer if mass air travel is allowed to resume. 

Given the limited data available on the ability of vaccines to reduce transmission, Which? is asking the GTT to ensure that clear guidance is in place for airports to facilitate social distancing between passengers, particularly in instances where passengers from ‘red list’ countries are travelling. 

Which? is also concerned that travellers could face astronomical costs for testing, which is likely to be required for entry into most destinations this summer. Most countries now require a negative test before departure and a follow up on arrival, and passengers also need a negative test to return to the UK, and further tests on day two and eight of quarantine.

With PCR private tests costing around £120 each, the potential of up to five tests could mean travellers face paying hundreds more on top of the cost of their trip, potentially pricing people out of travelling. 

Which? has also found that testing costs in the UK are considerably higher than in other countries. When it looked at the total cost of all the tests passengers would need for travel to a number of popular destinations across Europe, it found that the cost of tests were much lower on average compared to the UK. In Italy, for example, the average cost is €86 (£74) per test.

Additionally, Which? understands there will be a need for travel health certification, such as vaccine passports, but believes people need reassurance over how these will operate internationally, how their privacy will be maintained and their data protected, and what provisions will be made for those who cannot or do not want to rely on digital certifications. It is also essential that if certification is to be mandatory for travel, that it is provided free of charge.

The consumer champion is also urging the Taskforce to consider how travellers’ money will be protected if they cannot legally or reasonably travel to their destination because of coronavirus restrictions.

Despite many airlines offering reassurances that passengers can benefit from flexible booking policies this summer, Which? continues to hear from people who are still out of pocket for holidays that were disrupted last year. 

Suzanna Mahoney, from Leeds, booked a holiday to Lanzarote with Loveholidays in January 2020. She was due to travel in August 2020, but when the time came, Loveholidays informed her that the FCDO advice for travel to Lanzarote had changed and asked if she still intended to travel.

Not wanting to travel against government advice, she chose the option of cancelling her holiday and was refunded the cost of her accommodation. She has not received a refund for the cost of her flights though, as they departed as scheduled, and has been left £1,600 out of pocket as a result. 

Which? is engaging with the GTT and has shared its calls on the Taskforce to deliver for consumers.

It is asking the Taskforce to ensure that travellers will be given clear information about changing travel rules by the government and travel providers, that international travel will be safe, that they won’t face unreasonable additional costs and that the financial risk to consumers is minimised, that they will be able to get their money back if their holiday can’t go ahead, and that any travel health certification will be private and secure.

Until the Taskforce has published its report, Which? is advising people not to book any international travel or holidays, and wait until details of the GTT’s roadmap have been revealed before making any plans.

Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel, said: “Many of us are looking forward to the opportunity to step on a plane and travel to family and friends or take a holiday again in the near future, but the past year has taught us that there are a number of risks involved with international travel that need to be removed or reduced before we will be comfortable doing so.

“Confidence in overseas travel has plummeted as a result of the pandemic, and government interventions for both the industry and passengers who have been let down by their operator or airline have been woefully insufficient.

“The Taskforce has a real opportunity to give passengers the confidence to travel again, but it must take their concerns into consideration, or else it risks another disastrous summer for passengers and industry alike.”

A spokesperson for Loveholidays said: “As we have done with all our customers who had holidays booked to a destination where the FCDO subsequently advised against traveling, we asked Ms Mahoney whether she wished to go ahead with her trip and gave her the option to cancel or amend her booking.

“She opted to cancel and we waived our cancellation fee and provided her with a full cash refund for the part of the holiday that we are able to do so – her hotel booking. As a change of FCDO advice does not of itself trigger cancellation and full refund rights under the PTRs, any flight refund is dependent on Ryanair agreeing to do so, which to date they have not. This was made clear when Ms Mahoney chose to cancel. 

“Unfortunately, some airlines including Ryanair, chose to continue to operate flights despite a change in FCDO guidance for that destination. In accordance with Ryanair’s terms and conditions, they refuse to provide customers with a cash refund if a flight is still going ahead even if a customer quite understandably chooses to not to travel in light of the latest FCDO advice.

“Ryanair holds the flight sums. If we had received a flight refund from Ryanair, we would have forwarded this to Ms Mahoney within five working days of receipt, as we have done with many other customers who cancelled in the same circumstances.”