London-based airline EasyJet revealed on Tuesday that nine million customers’ personal information was stolen in what it called a “highly sophisticated” cyber-attack.

In addition to email addresses and travel details being accessed, 2,208 of those customers affected also had their credit card information stolen. EasyJet clarified that no passport details were uncovered in the breach, and that it would contact those affected.

It is not yet known how the historically large data breach occurred, but EasyJet said that it had “closed off this unauthorised access” and reported details of the incident to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and the National Cyber Security Centre.

The size of the breach raises the possibility of EasyJet being forced to pay significant compensation, as was the case for British Airways after the personal information of 500,000 customers was stolen. In that case, the ICO fined the airline £183 million.

A similarly sized fine would likely be a significant blow to EasyJet, which has already said it expects to make a loss of around £275 million this year as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to drive demand for air travel through the floor.

Reacting to the news, Tony Pepper, CEO of Egress, called the breach “another stark reminder that airlines must take a comprehensive risk-based approach towards protecting customer data”.

“For organisations, it remains crucial they continue to prioritise data security at all times, but especially when there’s widespread introductions of new systems as there has been in response to sustained remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has not just had a devastating impact on health and society, it has dominated economic and business matters unlike anything we’ve seen in peacetime history, and, across the globe, schools, companies, charities and self-employed professionals are still adjusting to a brand new remote working contingency plan.

Fortunately, as a society, we are extremely well-equipped to adapt to remote working with a turnaround time of just a few days. This was proven by the sheer quantity of businesses, many of whom care for thousands of employees, who just a few weeks ago managed to transform their entire internal structure to a digital environment. Not only is this an inspiring example of human  collaboration at a time of crisis but also a true testament to the power of the technology at our disposal.

In fact, remote working has proven itself so effective for some organisations, that it has gone beyond a short term contingency plan; it’s starting to look like remote, or at least flexible working, will be incorporated in the long term for thousands of office-based workers. Clement Desportes De La Fosse, Co-founder and Chief Operating and Financial Officer at Spearvest, shares his thoughts on how the finance sector will be forever changed by the pandemic.

Although it may sound premature to think about a post COVID-19 world, a majority of industry operations are sure to change forever, and, none more so than in the financial sector. For many years, traditional banks and financial institutions have been associated with outdated infrastructure and slow legacy IT systems, which are a burden for financial professionals and consumers alike. In fact, a recent study in 2019 revealed that UK banks were hit by ‘at least one’ online banking outage every day across a nine month period.

Today, the demand for banking and financial services has never been higher: emergency loans, government payment schemes and personal finance management are required for people to survive. What’s more, visiting a branch in person is no longer an option, and therefore financial institutions are forced to invest in capable IT infrastructure and relevant automation, regulation, and finance technology to deal with influx of demand.

For many years, traditional banks and financial institutions have been associated with outdated infrastructure and slow legacy IT systems, which are a burden for financial professionals and consumers alike.

Whilst it could be argued that this much-need update was inevitable, the pandemic has certainly forced many banks’ hands in enforcing this change, and means our financial institutions will emerge from the crisis with a much more capable IT infrastructure. The following areas are where banks are, or should be investing, in the coming weeks, months and years, with insight into how exactly these cutting-edge technologies are impacting the financial services sector for the better.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been a growing trend in finance in the past decade, primarily being used to address key pressure points, reduce costs and mitigate risks. However, the demand for digital banking services as a result of COVID-19 will likely push the sector in the direction of developing and incorporating sophisticated automation and customer service AI.

We’re a few years off the mass adoption of robotics technology of this nature, but it’s safe to say the COVID-19 threat has highlighted the pressing need for more automation and better service technology.

Public Cloud

The shift toward cloud-based computing has already been significant, with most financial institution operating cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications for business processes, such as HR, accounting, admin solutions and even security analytics and know-your-customer verification.

However, advancements being made in cloud technologies and increasing demand for SaaS applications for remote workers means that soon we could see core services in the financial sector, such as consumer payments, credit scoring and billing, to become stored and managed in cloud-based SaaS solutions.

RegTech

Much like the increasing demand for AI and Cloud-based SaaS applications, regulatory technology (RegTech), can do important work in ensuring financial work remains regulated and legal. The right RegTech, such as automated customer onboarding technology, can also save a firm a lot of time, freeing-up much-needed time to focus on the work that can not be completed by software or a robot.

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Big Data

Customer intelligence facilitated by big data and consumer behaviour is an incredibly important tool which can be used for extremely accurate decision making, risk-assessments and revenue and profitability forecasts, to name just a few use-case example.

Some modern financial institutions and start-ups have been using big data and analytics technology for a number of years, and those more ‘traditional’ which may have neglected this cutting-edge technology are depriving their customers of top tier financial advice and insight at a time when they are in need of it most.

Security

Cyber attacks, money laundering and hackers have always threatened the financial services to a large extent. However, with entire workforces online, operating in a remote, sometime unsecure environment, the cyber-threat facing consumers has never been larger.

Thus, cyber-security has, and should, be invested in heavily by financial institutions looking to protect their own client, employee and company sensitive information. At the same time, safe internet and banking practice should be implemented and taught to all members of the general public to ensure they do not give away sensitive information such as payment details.

Fast forward, five years from now, we will look at the pandemic as a trigger that enabled us to spend our time more efficiently, and digital technology and the cloud will be key in facilitating this positive change.

The COVID-19 virus is a global pandemic. With countries worldwide reporting cases, it is no wonder that it has greatly affected economies on a huge scale and reach. With more and more people confined in their homes, investors are now scrambling to come up with contingency plans to make sure their assets remain safe from it all. Of all the industries, the real estate sector seems to be the most affected. Hotels, restaurants, and retail stores are now empty.

Effect on Commercial Real Estate

In Asia, particularly in the hardest-hit areas, retailers are closing up shop. Retailers are being forced to send their workers home and stop operations. Restaurants, in the absence of customers, are left with no choice but to offer door-to-door deliveries or close as well. With travel bans in place, the usual busy areas of tourist spots are now deserted. With no sales, companies are forced to hold their wages and figure out how they will cover their monthly rent payments.

Rent Relief

Many businesses are now asking their real estate brokers like the Jeff Tabor group to negotiate rent relief and other forms of support to keep their businesses afloat. In Singapore, their restaurant association already requested shopping mall landlords to cut rents by at least 50% for the next three months. Some retailers have already granted relief measures including marketing assistance programs, flexible rental payments, and a rental rebate.

Effect on Residential Real Estate

Many think that the impact of the coronavirus should not extend to residential real estate. However, the effects are now felt within the residential sector as a number of home buyers are skeptical over fears of uncertainty - which is an expected outcome whenever something unusual happens in the markets. Fears about the virus caused the stock market to drop by over 1,000 points.

Real estate agents, however, believe that this is a good time to list their properties on the market. Uncertainty can sometimes equate to opportunity. Those who already have existing mortgages can negotiate to get the best deals possible. Based on the data provided by Black Knight, as many as 11 million homeowners can move to save more money through refinancing.

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Preparing for the Worst

Some of the malls in Singapore are slowly opening up shops despite the few numbers of buyers trickling in. Many believe that they have better chances of recouping what they have lost by continuing to operate. Nevertheless, they are still wary and are constantly finding ways just to break even and still provide goods and services. Restaurants are now offering food deliveries to doctors and nurses. Some of them are opening only when healthcare workers need to go out, take a break, and eat out. Right now, it is a give-and-take scenario.

The Bottom Line

Uncertainties can happen in the market. As we are experiencing, one crucial factor can affect the economy on a grand scale. In this case, the coronavirus or the COVID-19. With no known cure yet, real estate investors, home buyers and sellers have nothing to do but wait and see what comes of the virus and the real estate industry. For now, people should expect the worst and pray that their assets don’t turn into liabilities. COVID-19 could very well be the next Great Recession that we should brace for.

Amidst the many coronavirus-related restrictions and help schemes developed by government and industry, the freeze on car loans reported by the BBC is one of the most interesting and largely ignored. Ostensibly to help buyers to keep their vehicle through financial hardship, it has nevertheless shone a light on interactions between the UK vehicle market and the financial sector. With international travel likely to be subject to continuing restrictions, the humble car will soon be seen in even greater numbers across the isles, creating a challenge – and an opportunity – for the insurance and finance sectors.

Danger on the Roads

A positive benefit of the recent circumstances in the UK has been a huge drop in road traffic accidents and fatalities. With fewer drivers on the roads and an admirable dedication to avoiding danger in order to aid the NHS, the roads have never been safer, according to the Express and Star. However, when driving for all purposes is once again allowed, the roads can expect a huge boom in usage – and therefore accidents. This is already having a notable impact on the insurance sector, already reeling from the volume of claims made against airline companies on refunded or cancelled tickets not paid. Drivers will increasingly be resorting to personal injury legal help in order to gain restitution for a variety of not-at-fault accidents, especially if insurance companies are simply unable to provide the service and return of funds that they would in normal circumstances. With the down tick in this industry, expect the wider financial services industry to sag.

The Finance Sector

With this impact will come a need for greater impetus in the industry – and the amount of drivers back on the road may well create that demand. The amount of cars on the road will not be dictated purely by a need to get out and about, but also a paucity of flights for international travel. Even as prices for UK holidays are predicted by the Evening Standard to explode, cooped-up families will feel little other choice and want to get out and about during whatever summer is left. These holidays lend themselves to automotives, and it’s likely that far more will be purchased over the coming months, giving a healthy and timely boost to the overall health of the industry and the wider financial sector.

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Impact on Loans

With car purchases blossoming, so will a lot of vehicle loans. Reuters note that the UK already has an 86.5% rate of private car ownership via finance. This figure will only continue to shoot up with new purchases, especially of smaller family cars destined for those holiday destinations. The effect, then, is twofold – further money pushed into the automotive financial sector, boosting stocks, and more money borrowed from banks, providing impetus both to the financial sector, to the banks, and to local business. Longer-term, this will also help to provide a bit of joy to ailing businesses who had used the government’s loan scheme. Holidays are great for business, and the sheer influx of British people thirsty for some time out of the house can only be good news for industry.

In many ways, internal holiday travel in the UK provides the perfect solution to a battered and bruised financial industry. Powering the way will be cars, giving impetus across several industries by their very purchase. While insurance may continue to suffer, this trend should correct itself long term, giving a much healthier picture of British finance – and especially as it interacts with the automotive industry.

Moorwand and K Wearables announced on Monday their intention to give away 300 “K Rings” – contactless pay providers in the form of a ring – to NHS staff in a display of gratitude for their work in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rings are designed to facilitate contactless payment by having their wearers imitate a knocking gesture over a card reader, which can be used to trigger transactions up to £45 in size.

By removing the need to touch a surface, contactless devices present a safer payment alternative for essential workers amid a global health crisis.

Moorwand’s chief commercial officer, Luc Gueriane, commented on the giveaway: “We are in a time where community is at the forefront of everything we do. Although we may be apart, we as a nation have never felt more connected, so it is vital that communities and businesses come together to support health workers in any way they can.”

“Partnering with K Wearables to provide an easy payment solution to 300 NHS workers was instantly an initiative we knew we wanted to be part of.”

“K Wearables offered 100 free contactless payment rings to NHS frontline heroes, so the team could show its gratitude and we were overwhelmed with the immediately positive response”, added Philip Campbell, founder of K Wearables.

“We were delighted when our new issuer, Moorwand, generously offered to help extend this to 300 rings for NHS workers. It's great to be working with likeminded partners and we hope the recipients enjoy using K Ring as much as we all do.”

After weeks of being put under stringent lockdown measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, people will be bracing for difficult days (or even weeks) ahead even as these measures are gradually lifted.

Even then, people need to make ends meet in one way or another. And while it is difficult to know how and when this crisis will actually end, it is important now more than ever to make good financial decisions.

Let's take a look at a few important tips for how you can keep yourself from going under in these difficult times:

1. Keep a Level Head

The coronavirus, which causes the deadly disease known as COVID-19, has permeated local and international news since it was first detected in China. Now, it has become a crisis that governments are desperately trying to contain.

If you have been following the news lately, chances are you have been on a spending spree for essentials. With quarantine measures in place, many are now finding it hard to stock up on the essentials like toilet paper.

It is easy to be confused with all the information out there regarding the pandemic. If you let your guard down and make unnecessary purchases as a result, you can do yourself a lot of harm.

Whatever happens, it's best to remain calm and follow government advisories. At this point, the best you can do is to prevent the spread of the virus and get updates from trusted news sources. This will help you gain clarity as you figure out what to do with your current resources.

Whatever happens, it's best to remain calm and follow government advisories.

2. Call Up Your Credit Card Company

Having a credit card is convenient, but when you are in the middle of a serious health crisis, you have to do what you can to get by.

Luckily, consumers in the US can breathe a sigh of relief as major credit card providers have agreed to waive payments for March and possibly beyond. All you have to do is to contact the number on the back of your card and ask your bank about how you can get relief.

It’s important to note that providers such as American Express and Capital One have allowed cardholders to skip payments without interest. Other banks such as U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo have also announced that they are offering to waive fees and provide other forms of hardship assistance. Again, you will need to contact your bank and see what they are offering.

3. Use Your Savings

This is a reasonable time to dip into your savings account.

Whether it's a time deposit account, notice accounts or a fixed rate savings account, it would be practical to use this money as a buffer to get you through the entire quarantine period. At any rate, ensure that you can withdraw the amount you need without any penalties.

4. Spend Less by Scaling Down or Discounting

So long as this crisis lasts, it is important to keep your spending to a minimum. This may mean scaling down on non-essential expenses such as streaming subscriptions and luxuries bought online. These are sacrifices you may need to make to keep yourself financially afloat in the next few weeks or until the crisis passes.

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Another way you can slow down the depletion of your hard cash reserves is to make full use of gift cards, loyalty points, and discount vouchers. These will really come in handy if you are going out shopping for groceries.

And considering that this is a national health emergency, you should consider making use of cards that help you pay less for prescription medicine. Check out prescription discount card details for where and how to find the best deals.

5. Leverage Mortgage and Rent Holidays

One good thing right now is that mortgage providers are offering different types of mortgage relief interventions for homeowners who can defer making payments through a 90-day period.

If you are in a difficult situation, it is best to contact your lender and see if you can strike up a forbearance agreement.

If you're renting an apartment, make sure to talk with your landlord to discuss new payment terms and see if you can avoid paying late penalties. Local governments are prohibiting evictions from taking place. This could give significant relief if you have been displaced as a result of the pandemic.

In such extraordinary times, you need to keep your finances from dwindling. This might take simple sacrifices or leveraging government aid efforts. In either case, your financial survival will depend at least partly on the measures you take.

The unprecedented series of measures announced by the Chancellor in March were designed to give the UK economy a soft landing from the sheer collateral damage being sown by COVID-19. Some of the most far reaching measures included loans for businesses affected by the pandemic as well as mortgage payment holidays and a near halt on repossession activity, among many others. Whilst these measures were well received by businesses and lenders, it still left many questions unanswered and sometimes raised more questions. Under these circumstances, the FCA has published guidance to reassure businesses and lenders and clarify key issues in the Chancellor’s measures which deserve closer attention. The FCA hopes that the guidance will ‘help firms support consumers’ and reassure both borrowers and lenders that they will receive the support they need. Alexander Edwards, partner at Rosling King LLP, illuminates the pertinent details of the guidance for Finance Monthly.

Central to the Chancellor’s measures are loans to thousands of small businesses across the country, known as the ‘Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme’. The FCA has made clear that it wants small businesses to be confident that access to the funds promised by the Government will be based on the question of “how their business has performed in the past and its future prospects – not its position today,” acknowledging that applicants for these loans will likely be experiencing exceptional financial pressures when applying for the loan.

This means that lenders must assess the applicants in a new way. Lenders must take into account a range of evidence when approving loans, which will not necessarily be based on the current conditions of a borrower. Such evidence can include historic trading figures and future forecasts.

The FCA has clarified that it is reasonable to expect a borrower’s income to increase in the future and its expenditures to decrease as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic come to an end. The terms of the loan will also be a relevant factor. Importantly, if the forecasted income does not materialise for any reason then lenders should consider deferring repayments until such time the forecasted income does materialise.

Lenders must take into account a range of evidence when approving loans, which will not necessarily be based on the current conditions of a borrower.

Another central pillar of the Chancellor’s measures is ‘Mortgage Payment Holidays’. The FCA’s guidance makes clear that lenders should be granting borrowers payment holidays for an initial three-month period if they are experiencing payment difficulties as a result of COVID-19. Such payment holidays will also be extended to those borrowers who have suggested that they may potentially experience payment difficulties or indeed to those borrowers who have simply indicated to their lenders that they wish to receive one. Lenders are not expected to investigate the circumstances surrounding a request for a payment holiday.

The FCA has clarified that there should be no fee or charge applied to a borrower’s mortgage account as a result of the payment holiday, except for the additional interest which will be applied. The guidance also makes it clear that lenders may decide to put in place options other than a three-month payment holiday and there is nothing stopping lenders from providing more favourable forms of assistance to the borrower – the FCA suggests that one alternative could be reducing or waiving interest.

Other clarifications by the FCA pertaining to mortgage payment holidays include:

• Lenders shouldn’t be automatically granting payment holidays to all mortgage customers, given the impact payment holidays have on the total amount payable under the mortgage, the term of the mortgage and/or the amount of contractual monthly payments.
• Lenders should be keeping their TCF obligations in mind and engage with borrowers at this difficult time to help borrowers avoid financial hardship as a result of COVID-19.
• Lenders must also ensure that the payment holiday has no negative impact on the borrower’s credit score.

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The final set of core guidance issued by the FCA pertains to repossession. The FCA has made it clear that no responsible lender should be considering repossession as an appropriate measure at this time as it is not going to be in the best interests of the borrower and expects all lenders to stop repossession action. The FCA has also emphasised that this applies to all borrowers, not just those whose income has been affected by COVID-19.

Lenders are advised not to commence or continue with possession proceedings at this time unless it can clearly demonstrate that the borrower has agreed it is in their best interest. Lenders should therefore be reviewing all ongoing possession proceedings and those which it intends to commence carefully to ensure that it could clearly demonstrate to the FCA that the proceedings are in the best interests of the borrower.

The FCA has also made clear that lenders must ensure borrowers are kept fully informed and discuss the impacts of suspending any possession proceedings or any moves to commence possession proceedings.

These are uncertain times and it is clear that lenders should be working with borrowers and taking steps to support them during a time of unprecedented financial pressures. The FCA will review its guidance in the coming months as the situation develops and will issue amended guidance as appropriate. Lenders and businesses alike should play close attention to any newly issued guidance in order to protect their interests and ensure that they are sticking to government’s extraordinary programme.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses worldwide has been nothing but staggering, and not in a good way. No industry in the global economy is left untouched and a recession is imminent now. This means that money transfer companies are going to suffer through some major downtime. The question is whether they will be able to get through it and how they will have to change.

On the other hand, the pandemic has caused a major increase in the demand for fintech solutions. This means that money transfer companies with a wide range of additional services might get an opportunity to increase their customer base.

How Do Money Transfer Companies Make Money?

To understand the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact in the money transfer industry one needs to understand how that industry operates. Online money transfer platforms and brokers have been growing rapidly in number and popularity over the last few years. The reason for this is the increased rate of globalisation.

However, the growth of such businesses is also one of the reasons that make this rate of globalisation possible. These services made international money transfers affordable. This means that cross-border financial transactions became available for small businesses and investors.

Not so long ago, bank wire transfers and a few money transfer corporations (Western Union and MoneyGram) were the only options for transferring money abroad. The problem with them is that both charged high rates. They also use a high markup on foreign currency exchange rates.

Online money transfer platforms and brokers have been growing rapidly in number and popularity over the last few years.

Overall, a single transfer to or from abroad could cost up to, and sometimes even over, 10% of the amount. Small businesses with their tiny revenue couldn’t afford such transactions. Therefore, they were denied the opportunities offered by using cheaper services and materials delivered from abroad.

The situation is like this because those fees and markups are what banks use to make money. However, online money transfer companies are completely different. They do not transfer money physically across borders. Instead, the customer deposits the amount they need to the company’s account in their country. Then, the company transfers an equal amount to the recipient from its account in their country.

This approach allows businesses to minimise transfer costs. And money transfer companies that operate in such a manner make their profit from the volume of transfers they process. Therefore, it’s more beneficial for them to keep their fees as low as possible to attract more customers.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Money Transfer Companies’ Customers

Unfortunately, due to the crisis caused by the pandemic, money transfer companies have fallen on some bad times. Even #1 companies like TransferWise struggle because of the reduced flow of transfers. These companies largely depend on small businesses, which are failing at an alarming rate.

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It’s not a surprise because even big international corporations are struggling today. For example, the reduction in international travel, has already caused the near-collapse of Virgin Atlantic. With huge companies like this failing to survive, the majority of small businesses have no chance whatsoever.

The other major group of customers for money transfer companies is small property investors. Cheap transfers made it possible even for people without huge fortunes to purchase properties abroad. This rapidly developed into a major industry as easy international transportation made the tourism industry boom. However, with travel restrictions and lockdowns in many countries, the hospitality sector has been hit greatly. The reduction in buyer capability will also affect the real estate market all over the world.

COVID-19 Pandemic Repercussions for Small Businesses

Small businesses have been hit the hardest by this situation. Their main problem is the lack of free funds to tide them over through the lockdown. There are some lending programs from governments that should help these types of enterprises. However, those are hardly sufficient. They are also not available worldwide.

Because of the enforced hiatus, small businesses have reduced the volume of their international transfers. The situation should change for the better when the world gears back after lockdowns are lifted. However, this would be a slow process.

In the interim, money transfer companies will suffer the same fate as small businesses. Those among them that do not have the funds to get through the downturn will perish.

Future of the Real Estate Industry Post Coronavirus

The real estate market worldwide is pretty much frozen at the moment. It’s starting to reanimate in some places, but this process is even slower than the small business restoration.

The good news is that the housing market in many countries has been on the rise in recent years. On the other hand, the pandemic has severely decreased people’s ability to actually buy properties. This means that the current slowdown of the market will be followed by a bigger dip. The real estate industry will recover in time, but this won’t happen fast.

The good news is that the housing market in many countries has been on the rise in recent years.

Meanwhile, investors are sure to reduce their transfers. Again, money transfer companies will lose a major contributor to their cash flow, but offering assistance and hedging tools to the existing investors today can help tide them over.

Will Money Transfer Companies Recover after the Pandemic?

The situation for money transfer companies and brokers is grim today. However, there is no doubt that it will improve. Moreover, this industry should recover faster than some others. That’s because this type of service has been in great demand even before the pandemic. But after this world-shaking event, it will be even more needed.

As mentioned before, even big corporations now struggle to stay afloat. Therefore, they will be looking for every way to cut costs and boost their efficiency. International deals and cheap money transfers are both essential for succeeding in this.

Admittedly, governments are doing what they can to support businesses and therefore reduce the negative impact of the pandemic. However, their success is limited, and it’s only a few countries that can make any big difference for small businesses.

Therefore, money transfer companies will have to wait for a while until their customer traffic is restored. The ones that can make it will definitely grow rapidly. Also, businesses that expand to online banking on top of offering international transfers have a better chance. Those are already in high demand as the world is going digital even faster than before.

All in all, for all that it seems bad now, the situation for the money transfer industry is very promising.

In its Monetary Policy Report for the month of May, the Bank of England presented scenarios for the UK economy, predicated on lockdown measures being eased from June to September.

These scenarios suggested that, though the economy contracted 2.9% in the first quarter of 2020, it could fall by an astonishing 25% in the second quarter, ultimately shrinking by 14% over the course of the year. If accurate, this would equate to the economy’s sharpest contraction since 1706, according to BoE’s figures.

Further projections in the report include a rise to 9% unemployment – greater than the 8% unemployment rate that was experienced during the last financial crisis.

Also on Thursday, BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to keep interest rates at their record low of 0.1%, though a 7-2 majority voted against increasing the latest round of qualitative easing to £300 billion up from £200 billion.

Adrian Lowcock, head of personal finance at investment platform Willis Owen, commented on the report’s release: “The Bank's latest forecasts are the stuff of nightmares”.

“The only good news today is that the Bank expects this economic bombshell to be short-lived, and for the economy to bounce back rapidly. However, the MPC itself concedes it is flying blind to a large extent, warning that a pandemic like this is "especially difficult to quantify.””

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey expressed optimism when speaking with the BBC, emphasising that the economy would likely recover “much more rapidly than the pull back from the global financial crisis”.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is preparing to scale back the UK government’s coronavirus furloughing scheme as lockdown measures are eased, according to several sources.

The Times has reported that the chancellor will announce plans next week to “wind down the scheme from July” in a bid to boost the economy, reflecting a growing attitude in government that recipients are in danger of becoming used to the aid it provides.

In an interview with BBC One on the future of the furloughing scheme, former Treasury minister David Gauke expressed worry that those workers currently furloughed might end up growing accustomed to their current circumstances.

“I don’t think anybody is addicted yet but if over time we end up paying people for staying at home, that’s what they’ll do,” he said.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has seen significant use, with almost a quarter of UK employees having been furloughed in the past fortnight alone. The chancellor will likely announce details of any plans to scale it back by mid-May, due to regulations mandating that employers making more than 100 staff redundant must run a 45-day consultation before the job cuts are made. As the furlough scheme is slated to end in June, this will force companies to consider their options as early as next week.

Possible ways the government might choose to scale back the scheme include reducing the wage subsidy to a level lower than 80%, or reducing the £2,500 cap on monthly payments.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to outline further plans to roll lockdown measures back this Sunday.

In a surprise announcement, Virgin Atlantic has announced that it will cut upwards of 3,000 jobs in the UK, citing the effects of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its impact on travel as the cause.

Virgin Atlantic chief executive Shai Weiss said in a statement that “now is the time for further action to reduce our costs, preserve cash and to protect as many jobs as possible.”

In addition to cutting jobs, the airline will also discontinue its operations at Gatwick Airport, focusing exclusively on its Heathrow flights.

Virgin Atlantic, majority owned by Virgin Group tycoon Sir Richard Branson, has been seeking a government-backed loan for several weeks. This latest move follows warnings of massive redundancies by rival companies Ryanair and British Airways, with BA indicating that upwards of 12,000 jobs could be lost – and that it, too, may soon end its services at Gatwick.

Virgin’s latest announcement has been met with shock, particularly among the British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa), whose general secretary, Brian Strutton, described it as “devastating”.

“Our members and all staff in Virgin Atlantic will be shocked by the scale of this bombshell. We will be challenging Virgin very hard to justify this,” Strutton said.

The cutbacks by Virgin Atlantic come less than a fortnight after the collapse of its sister airline, Virgin Australia, which employed 15,000 people.

Within hours of its official launch on Monday morning, the UK government’s “Bounce Back” loan scheme saw thousands of applications from small businesses looking for funding.

Executives at major banks underwriting the loans and online application forms said that they were experiencing “significant” demand for the loans as the programme opened.

David Oldfield, CEO of commercial banking at Lloyds Bank, said that his bank had received 5,000 applications before 10am, and Matt Hammerstein, chief executive of Barclays Bank UK, told the Treasury Select Committee that Barclays had received 200 applications in just the first minute.

Announced a week prior, the Bounce Back loan scheme was launched following criticism that government aid was taking too long to reach small businesses. The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) has received particular attention, as critics claimed that its requirement for banks to assess businesses’ viability for the loans resulted in delays and the rejection of applications from numerous vulnerable companies.

The new “Bounce Back” scheme, which Oldfield described to MPs as having been “built around simplicity”, offers small businesses state-backed loans of up to £50,000.

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Oldfield assured MPs that “Whatever someone applies for within that range, subject to it being no more than 25% of turnover, then we will do no further checks other than the fraud checks,” to ensure a fast transition of funds.

Regarding the 200 applications that Barclays received upon the opening of the scheme, Hammerstein said that they were approved “within minutes” and that the requested funds should reach applicants “over the course of the next 24 hours”.