Dear Listener, 

If you have a mortgage, another gloomy economic week was lightened a little when the Bank of England cut interest rates, if only by a quarter of one per cent, bringing them down to 5.5%. The first cut since August 2005 was welcome news for borrowers especially those with a fixed rate mortgage which is about to come to an end.

And strangely, the cut is not such bad news for the millions of savers. The interest they’re paid may not be cut – the banks are just so desperate for our money now they’ve stopped lending to each other (credit crunch etc. see previous newsletters).

The banks have turned down the opportunity to eliminate ageism. They have decided not to accept a proposed amendment to their code of practice that they will not reject credit applications solely on grounds of age. We find out why.

NatWest customers are annoyed they are being charged £36 a year to belong to a rewards scheme. Some say they were not told about the new charge, though the bank says they were.

And the government says it will clamp down on couples who avoid tax by forming a company and splitting the profits between them, even though one does most – or all – of the work. Is it fair? Will it be effective? And who else will it catch?

Remember you can download Money Box and Money Box Live as a podcast so you can listen to the programmes on your MP3 player anytime, anywhere. You can even sign up for a weekly download from iTunes and other services so you never miss an episode.

Best wishes

Paul Lewis

PS Don’t forget the live preview of Money Box on BBC1 Breakfast between 8.45 and 9, Saturday morning.

e-mail Paul Lewis