Latest news with #costoflivingcrisis
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
FICO Survey Finds Canadians Increasingly Justify First-Party Fraud Amid Rising Inflation Rates
Canadians are committing fraud to gain credit during cost-of-living crisis TORONTO, July 30, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FICO (NYSE: FICO) Global analytics software leader, FICO released new findings from the 2025 Consumer Survey: Fraud, Identity and Digital Banking CA highlighting Canadians' experiences with application fraud and their perceptions of how well banks are meeting their needs. The survey found that nearly one-third of respondents view first-party fraud—such as providing false information on financial applications—as acceptable in certain circumstances or even normal behavior. Many respondents cited the ongoing cost-of-living crisis as justification. As inflation continues to stretch household budgets, some consumers may be more likely to falsify application details in pursuit of credit. This poses an ongoing challenge for banks, which must detect fraud without adding unnecessary friction for legitimate applicants. Strengthening fraud prevention strategies while preserving trust and accessibility will be key to meeting evolving customer expectations. Identity verification is a crucial balancing act for banks As more Canadians embrace digital banking, their expectations for more efficient and secure experiences are rising. According to the survey, 31% are now more likely to open a financial account online than they were a year ago. At the same time, many reported noticing an increase in identity verification checks. Nearly half (49%) reported experiencing more frequent checks during online purchases, and the same (49%) while logging into bank accounts. While these measures are important for security, they can also create friction: 15% of consumers have reduced or stopped using their checking accounts, and 17% have done the same with credit cards due to the difficulty of identity checks—slightly higher than in 2023. These trends suggest the importance of striking a balance. While security remains a top priority, banks also need to ensure that digital processes remain user-friendly and accessible to keep customers engaged. "Canadians are demanding seamless digital banking and verification processes," said Adam Davies, vice president of product management at FICO. "Nearly 20% of consumers will abandon a checking account if identity checks are too difficult or time-consuming. Banks must continue to make opening processes convenient and secure to attract new customers and build trust." Rising demand for banks to offer digital new account openings 32% of Canadians say they are more likely to open a financial account digitally than they were a year ago. Across several product types, expectations for speed are high, over 40% of personal loan, credit card, and card loan applicants expect to spend less than 30 minutes opening a checking account. If the application process is too long and difficult, Canadians will abandon the application. These insights re-emphasize the needs for banks to optimize onboarding journeys to retain applicants and reduce abandonment rates. Consumers are concerned with fraud and identity theft Canadians continue to place high value on security. The survey found that 30% of consumers rank good fraud protection as one of the top three considerations when selecting a new account, while 71% rank it in their top three. Fingerprints and facial recognition were marked as a favorite security choice as 62% of consumers report that they either like or have a strong preference to use fingerprints, with 81% rating their security as good or excellent. At the same time, Canadians are seeing a rise in stolen identities. 6% of Canadians reported their stolen identity was used by a criminal to open a financial account—equating to approximately 1.8 million victims and marking an increase from 5% in 2023 and 5.6% in 2020. Despite the rising risk, many Canadians underestimate their personal exposure. While 71% of consumers rank the use of stolen identity to open an account as a top three fraud concern, 40% believe it's unlikely to have happened to them, and 23% are confident their identity has never been used this way. This disconnect between concern about identity theft and personal risk perception suggests many Canadians may be unaware they've already been affected or that they are currently at risk. For more details and insights regarding the survey results, download the 2025 Consumer Survey: Fraud, Identity and Digital Banking CA eBook. This survey was issued to 1,000 Canadian bank customers across age and income demographics. For more information on how FICO can help financial services organizations exceed customer needs and expectations, visit About FICO FICO (NYSE: FICO) powers decisions that help people and businesses around the world prosper. Founded in 1956, the company is a pioneer in the use of predictive analytics and data science to improve operational decisions. FICO holds more than 200 US and foreign patents on technologies that increase profitability, customer satisfaction and growth for businesses in financial services, insurance, telecommunications, health care, retail and many other industries. Using FICO solutions, businesses in more than 80 countries do everything from protecting four billion payment cards from fraud, to improving financial inclusion, to increasing supply chain resiliency. The FICO® Score, used by 90% of top US lenders, is the standard measure of consumer credit risk in the US and has been made available in over 40 other countries, improving risk management, credit access and transparency. Learn more at Join the conversation at & For FICO news and media resources, visit FICO is a registered trademark of Fair Isaac Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. 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Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Once‑desirable homes face 'worthless' future as insurance crisis deepens in blue state
A new cost-of-living crisis is deepening across America's progressive capital. In California, soaring climate risk and mounting insurance losses are converging into a property crisis experts warn could slash the value of millions of homes. Deep Sky, a Canadian carbon removal firm, published an analysis of the state's housing insurance market, which painted a dire picture. 'The highest risk areas of California have effectively become uninsurable and will soon become unaffordable,' the study, published in mid-June, concluded. 'Without significant policy intervention, these properties will eventually become worthless.' The warning comes just six months after destructive blazes ripped through Southern California, destroying over 18,000 structures and burning more than 57,000 acres. In January, the Palisades and Eaton fires became two of the most destructive blazes in state history. The impact on the insurance market, which was already under pressure, was immediate. In the first quarter of 2025, insurers posted a $1.1 billion net underwriting loss — a sharp reversal from the $9.4 billion gain they posted the same period a year before. Those numbers have hit some of the most wildfire-prone areas, where premiums have jumped by 42 percent since 2019, and more than 150,000 homes are now uninsured altogether as residents simply cannot afford coverage. But the state has a long way to fall before reaching worthlessness. Right now, the Golden State is America's most expensive housing market. Median home values in California are currently just over $780,000, according to Zillow. That's over $400,000 more than the US average. But, without a robust fire insurance market, policymakers and researchers are warning that the state is resting on shaky grounds. In May, Ricardo Lara, the state's insurance commissioner, approved a 17 percent rate hike for State Farm General, California's largest home insurance provider, to help pay for earlier destruction. 'The market is not going to fail under my leadership,' he told Politico after the decision. 'I have to make these hard decisions, even though it makes me the most unpopular person, and maybe nobody wants this position in the future.' California recently adjusted its climate regulations to allow for more home building across the state And California is by no means alone. Several other states that are prone to natural disasters have faced mounting home insurance issues. State Farm hiked home insurance rates in Illinois by 27.2 percent this month, adding $746 to the average bill. The insurer insists the hike is unavoidable, claiming it is paying out far more in claims than it collects in premiums in the state which is prone to hailstorms. Florida, which saw a major inflow of residents in 2020, is seeing housing shoppers flee its hurricane-vulnerable coastlines that used to draw million-dollar buyers. In April, contracts to buy homes in the Miami, West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale regions fell dramatically from the year prior. Homes also lingered longer on the market. Pending sales fell 23 percent year-over-year in Miami, according to Redfin, which was the largest drop among the 50 most populous metro areas across the US. Meanwhile, some cash-strapped young homebuyers are skipping insurance altogether out of fear their homes will not pass inspection. 'Many homeowners are living on borrowed time and borrowed trust, we're seeing financial strain and home safety come head-to-head,' home insurance expert Kara Credle from Guardian Service previously told 'Homeownership is no longer the financial safe haven it used to be.'
BBC News
22-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Wakefield Council's bill for stray dogs rises by £10,000
The annual cost of dealing with stray dogs in Wakefield has risen by more than £10,000, in part due to the cost of living crisis, a meeting Council spent £56,388 in 2024-25, up from £44,654 in the previous financial Wilton, cabinet member for communities, said the increase was partly down to the council entering into a new kennelling contract and requirements to comply with legislation on XL he said: "We need to take into account external factors such as the cost of living crisis and the fact that a lot of people are not taking ownership of dogs due to cost of living pressures and austerity." The meeting was told 194 animals were collected by the council's dog wardens in 2024/ those, 76 were reunited with their owners, 61 went to rehoming centres and 44 were to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, there had also been an increase in the number of dogs being put down after being taken taken to the council's dog meeting heard nine out the 44 dogs euthanised in 2024/25 were XL laws banning the breed in England and Wales took effect in February said: "We have also seen an increase in dog owners who haven't been able to pay for the release of the dogs from the kennels, or have been too ill for them to recover the dog."Unfortunately, they have had to be euthanised."This may have also contributed to the escalating costs to the council as we will have paid for the kennelling until the dogs were euthanised."Witton said the council employed "a small team" of three dog wardens, who were "working very hard to reunite dogs with their owners before taking them to the kennels".Pete Girt, independent councillor for Knottingley, told the meeting: "A good part of the reason why dogs aren't reclaimed is because when people move they don't update the chip, so then the owner can't be traced." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
BBC News
21-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Coventry food charity user says missing meals to feed kids is the norm
Parents using a social supermarket in Coventry have said they would struggle to feed their children without it, with one recipient of free school meals describing the lack of them during summer holidays as "horrendous".Claire said regularly going without meals so her children could eat had "become the norm".The Grub Hub on Wyken Road has been helping people in the community deal with the cost of living crisis, offering discounted food mum, who has two school-age children with special needs, said the facility was a "lifeline", adding: "It's so difficult, I don't know what we'd do without it". Another mum, Precious, explained she was initially embarrassed about using the charity to feed her three children, "but it has become a chance to meet others and share life's issues".She lives with her partner who has a full-time job but, she added: "He carries a lot but it's not always a light burden to carry"."I can't tell you how much this place helps." Alainea Stark is a carer for her nine-year-old daughter and volunteers at the centre. She said it could be "incredibly daunting" the first time people came but "you get to know other people and it's a good sense of community".Users pay a membership fee in return for discounted weekly groceries."When people pay they feel they are contributing," she Williams, chief executive of Moathouse Community Trust, which runs the Grub Hub, said recent food cost increases had left people "really struggling".Over the summer the charity will plans to provide activities and hot lunches for children at its Winston Avenue centre. Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Daily Mail
15-07-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE The dark side of Australia's cost-of-living crisis exposed
A dark side of Australia's cost-of-living crisis has emerged, with the stress of making ends meet linked to a rise in animal cruelty. RSPCA NSW CEO Steve Coleman told Daily Mail Australia that financial pressures facing millions of Aussies were partly responsible for pets being abused or neglected by their stressed owners. It comes as RSPCA NSW announced it would be temporarily closing its online cruelty reporting portal due to the high volume of complaints. 'Whenever things are tough on the economic front it generally results in an increase in cruelty complaints,' Mr Coleman said. 'In the last couple of years it (animal cruelty complaints) has definitely been related to tight budgets on the home front and people not being able to afford their vet bills.' Mr Coleman, who joined the RSPCA in 1991, said the organisation also had to help victims of domestic violence by taking their pets and looking after them while they found safe accommodation. 'The number of people with pets who have become homeless has also increased. A lot of people with pets haven't been able to afford their mortgages,' Mr Coleman said. 'At the core of it, the economy definitely hasn't helped. There are a lot of social challenges at the moment. It's a tough economy.' The Covid pandemic resulted in a huge demand for animal adoptions which left the RSPCA in NSW with empty shelters. Now, close to 70 per cent of households have a pet and many are struggling to look after them. Animal cruelty isn't limited to physical abuse, it also includes failing to take pets in need of medical assistance to a vet, often because of the costs involved. Mr Coleman said there was currently around 800 animals sitting on a 'surrender' wait list, but the RSPCA doesn't have the capacity to take care of them. 'What we say to them is we can't take the animal right now, but what we can do is try and help you maintain your connection with your animal so you don't have to surrender it,' he said. 'That may be that we fund a vet bill for a couple of hundred dollars that they can't afford.' Mr Coleman also said weather also played a role in the amount of animal cruelty cases reported to the RSPCA. 'Typically, if we go back a few years before the economy started to crunch we got more complaints during the summer months,' he said. 'In summer months when feedstocks dry out we'll get more livestock-related complaints around drought-related issues as well.' The RSPCA NSW recently released a statement saying it was temporarily closing its online cruelty reporting portal. 'Like many organisations, we face significant challenges when supporting animals and their guardians, and while enforcing animal welfare laws with limited resources,' it said. 'Due to the high volume of cruelty complaints we are currently receiving, we have made the difficult decision to temporarily close our online cruelty reporting portal. 'This change will help us manage case intake more efficiently by ensuring that our team can effectively triage the animals who need us the most, through reducing lower-priority and duplicate reports. 'Animal cruelty reports can still be made, as they always have been, via our phone hotline, which remains operational and staffed.'
