Huge increase in equity release

Available for over a year

The number of older people raising money by using the value of their home grew 40% last year. Altogether more than £3 billion of the equity in their homes was released. A record amount and a record rise but what are people using the money for? From today customers can give permission for their bank to share full details of their current account with other banks and regulated companies. It's called Open Banking and was introduced to encourage competition between banks on a recommendation of the Competition and Markets Authority. The plan is by studying your spending and income details firms will be able to offer you financial products, give you a credit rating, or suggest ways for you to save money. New legislation over transparency of charges by financial investment providers, traders, brokers and advisers was introduced at the beginning of January but there are growing concerns that the new rules still leave wiggle room for firms to not be as clear about charges as they could be. What difference will the the rules make? Presenter: Paul Lewis Producer: Alex Lewis Editor: Jim Frank.