Wayfair Fined £4.8m Over Fake Countdown Deals: CMA
Wayfair, Appliances Direct and Gold's Gym fined £6m for fake deadlines and hidden fees. Plus Monzo's Junior ISA, Klarna at M&S and Wise's travel eSIM.
The competition regulator has fined three retailers for pressure tactics that money apps cannot protect you from, Monzo has added a Junior Stocks and Shares ISA, Klarna has arrived at Marks & Spencer and Wise has put mobile data into its travel features. The first item has refunds attached; the rest are new options worth knowing before you choose an app.
Wayfair, Appliances Direct and Gold’s Gym fined £6m for misleading sales tactics
The Competition and Markets Authority said on 14 October that it had fined three businesses a total of £6 million using its new consumer protection powers. Wayfair was fined £4.8 million because its “Daily Deals” and 24-hour “Flash Deals”, with countdown timers and “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow” messages, were often still available at the same price or lower after the deadline passed. Appliances Direct was fined £1.2 million for similar false countdowns and for automatically opting customers into paid removal and installation services, and must refund around £432,000. Gold’s Gym was fined £45,000 for not showing the full membership price, including the joining fee, clearly and in time, and must refund around £9,000. All three admitted the breaches and received a 40% reduction for settling early.
If you were charged for removal or installation by Appliances Direct, or paid a Gold’s Gym joining fee, the CMA says the businesses will contact affected customers and you do not need to do anything. The wider lesson is that a countdown timer is not evidence of a deadline. A budgeting app that flags spending against a category limit is a better check on an impulse buy than any timer; best budgeting apps compares them. Source: GOV.UK.
Monzo has launched a Junior Stocks and Shares ISA
Monzo launched a Junior Stocks and Shares ISA in its app, FinTech Global reported on 8 October. A parent or legal guardian opens and runs it for a child aged 0 to 16. Grandparents and friends can pay in through a shared gifting link, which Monzo is rolling out over the coming weeks. Monzo charges no platform fee, but the fund you choose still has its own management charge. The usual Junior ISA rules apply: up to £9,000 a tax year, the money belongs to the child, it cannot be taken out before 18 except in limited circumstances, and it becomes an adult Stocks and Shares ISA at 18 once identity checks are done. At launch, 16 and 17 year olds cannot manage the account themselves.
No platform fee makes this cheap to hold, but compare the fund charges with other junior investing apps before moving an existing account, and transfer rather than withdraw if you switch. Best savings apps for children and best stocks and shares ISA apps cover the alternatives, and our Monzo review covers the rest of the app. Source: FinTech Global.
Klarna is now available on M&S.com and the M&S app
Klarna went live on Marks & Spencer’s website and app for fashion, home and beauty purchases on 15 October, Retail Systems reported. Eligible purchases can be split into interest-free payments with a fixed end date.
Buy now, pay later loans like this have been regulated by the FCA since 15 July 2026, which means lenders must check affordability and you can take a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman. That makes it safer than it was, but it is still borrowing, and your lender decides what a missed payment costs. If you use it for Christmas shopping, put each instalment in your budgeting app the day you buy, so the January payments are not a surprise. Pay off debt with money apps covers how to keep on top of several repayments at once. Sources: Retail Systems and the FCA.
Wise adds eSIM data plans and QR payments to its travel features
Wise has added eSIM mobile data plans and payments by local QR code to its app, The Fintech Times reported on 14 October. You choose your own data allowance and length of plan rather than a fixed bundle, regional plans cover more than 150 destinations, and Wise says it will refund unused data. The QR payments connect to local instant-payment systems including PayNow in Singapore, Pix in Brazil and PromptPay in Thailand, and to Alipay+ for merchants in mainland China and around 50 other destinations.
Revolut already offers eSIM data, so this narrows one difference between the two. Check the price of the data plan against your own network’s roaming add-on before you buy: the cheapest option depends on where you are going and for how long. Best bank accounts for travelling compares the card side. Source: The Fintech Times.
