Pensions, credit cards, spending and air fares

Following the BHS scandal which put the retirement savings of 20,000 people at risk, the Pensions Regulator is facing the prospect of an overhaul as MPs investigate its role, The Times reports. The work and pensions committee will examine whether the regulator should be given new powers to block takeovers if pension schemes are not adequately funded. The committee will also look at whether the regulator is fit for purpose as part of a wider investigation into Britain’s pensions framework. Frank Field, chairman of the committee, said that he favoured recommending a cooling-off period for acquisitions where the security of pension schemes could be examined if the regulator ‘doesn’t already have a similar power by a different name now’. Death of the plastic credit card? The Telegraph reports that the death of the plastic credit card could be a step closer as high street names including McDonald’s and the Co-op prepare to test a breakthrough finger-scanning payment technology.