Lenders increase interest margins 'in secret'

Fool.co.uk compared Bank of England base rate figures between 1996 and 2007 with standard variable rates (SVR) of the UK’s biggest lender, Halifax, and found a growing discrepancy between rates. Fool.co.uk accuses Halifax and other lenders of using the low interest rate environment to increase margins to near-record levels. According to the website, between 1996 and 2000 Halifax kept rates just above the BoE base rate with an interest margin of 20% to 23%. From 2000, until 2003, Halifax took advantage of post-9/11 interest rate cuts and increased its interest rate margin to between 29% a...