Latest News

Biling itself as "eBay for savers", Europe's first interest rate auction house will launch online next week. From next Wednesday (July 22nd), www.licuro.com will alow registered users to auction the details of their savings pots directly to banks and building societies. Having stated how much money they want to deposit and for how long, users can then sit back and wait for financial institutions to bid against each other by offering their best available interest rates.

Based on a Danish website that launched in 2002, licuro.com claims to be completely independent, with all banks and building societies FAS-regulated and expected to respond to an auction request within two hours. The site owners claim that the original Danish site has resulted in consumers getting interest rates around 100 basis points (one per cent) higher than normal as a direct result of the competition engendered. To date, 8,000 clients have deposited more than £1.8 billion through the site's foreign forebears.

Unfortunately, the site will have a limited target audience - depositors must have at least £12,000 to invest, and that money must remain untouched for a mutually-agreed period of between two weeks and two years. Many of the expected customers will be companies rather than consumers, and each request for rates costs £6, or £35 for an annual membership.