Richard Palmer, 76, was sent into a panic by a ScottishPower bill for over £8,400, forcing him to use half his savings. The energy company admitted a miscalculation due to an incorrect meter reading from 2022. ScottishPower has since refunded Palmer £9,000 and offered a £1,000 goodwill payment.
State lawmakers in Iowa, New York, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania are proposing legislation to ban insurers from using consumers' credit history to set homeowners or auto insurance premiums. Consumer advocates argue credit-based insurance scores are unfair as they penalize people for financial hardships beyond their control, while the insurance industry argues the practice helps keep premiums low for many consumers. Currently, only California, Hawaii and Massachusetts ban the practice for auto insurance, with California, Massachusetts and Maryland banning it for homeowners insurance.
Salmon, a Manila-based consumer finance app founded by three ex-Tinkoff executives, has raised $60 million in equity and $40 million in debt to bring digital banking to millions of underbanked Filipinos. The startup acquired a rural bank in 2024 to secure its banking license and offers rapid digital lending—20-second loan decisions and next-day motorbike pickup—using behavioral data instead of traditional credit history. The company has raised $310 million total and plans to scale operations and potentially expand internationally within two years.
