The bank admitted that 39 customers’ names, addresses and account details had gone missing and could now not be traced. The customers in question were in dispute with Tesco over charges for payment protection insurance (PPI) on their credit cards and unsecured personal loans, and the lost letters were sent between the bank’s Manchester and Glasgow offices

Tesco bosses said that a “service provider” was to blame for the lost data, although it refused to name the company. However, This is Money said that the loss was down to a member of staff at the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), who was acting as a contractor with Tesco.

When contacted by This is Money, RBS did not deny that its staff were responsible for the loss, although it refused to comment further. The loss first came to light in June this year. In July, Tesco contacted the affected credit card and personal loans customers and offered them two years free insurance against any identity theft, bad credit or similar problems which emerged as a result of the data loss.

A Tesco’s spokesman said: “An action plan has been devised and implemented to ensure that the service provider involved complies with our stringent requirements for handling and transferring customer data,”

Until summer 2008, RBS was responsible for Tesco’s credit card services and had 50 per cent ownership of Tesco Personal Finance, before reselling its shares to the supermarket giant.

Financial experts welcomed the extra element of competition that the new Metro Bank will bring to the banking sector, and praised its rates on personal loans, although some were more restrained when assessing the bank as a whole. The Metro Bank unveiled its first branch, in London, with the declaration “The British banking revolution begins today”.

David Black, of financial researchers Defaqto, told guardian.co.uk that, overall, “the rates generally aren’t going to trouble any best-buy tables”, criticising the lack of variety among its financial products and the lack of introductory offers.

When it came to the credit cards and unsecured personal loans offered by the bank, he said that the rates were certainly more competitive. Credit cards are being offered with a single standard APR of 13 per cent, and personal loans were on offer at 10 per cent.

The 10 per cent rate is fixed for the lifespan of the personal loan, which is available for 1-5 year repayment periods dealing in sums of £1,000 to £25,000. Andrew Hagger of moneynet.co.uk told the Guardian‘s website that “in the wider market, if you borrow larger amounts you will normally get a lower rate.”

“However, on a loan of £1,000 you are looking at interest rates of over 20 per cent, so the Metro Bank rate is excellent for that level of borrowing.”

Which? welcomed the fact that all loan decisions were made locally by branch staff, and also praised the APR on personal loans: “The flat rate of 10 per cent is much lower than many other high street banks and the absence of risk-based pricing means that, if your application is successful, you’ll get the advertised rate,” it pointed out.

The site reported that the Post Office has reduced selected interest rates on its personal loans by 1 per cent, making them among the most attractive on the market. It added that borrowers wishing to take out smaller unsecured personal loans would benefit the most from this, since there were few competitors operating on similar interest rates.

Another positive point was that the Post Office was charging no redemption penalties for early repayment of the personal loans, making it distinct from many competitors and easier for borrowers to avoid bad credit. The Moneyfacts website gave the Post Office loans four out of five stars.

One financial expert has been advising bank account holders with hefty overdrafts to look into taking out unsecured personal loans to pay them off.

Chief executive of MoneyDashboard.com, Gavin Littlejohn, said that repaying a personal loan could work out cheaper in the longer term than struggling to repay an overdraft or paying off credit card debts.

“Consider converting your overdraft – and any other debts you have – into a personal loan, as the interest is likely to be considerably lower,” he suggested.

“For example, if you need £5,000 to pay off your credit card and overdraft, you can pay interest of as little as 8.8 per cent APR over three years, with a total repayment of £5,679.”

He went on to say that consumers should only use credit cards to avoid going further overdrawn if they are sure that they can repay the full balance as soon as possible.

The banking giant said that PPI, which is meant to cover repayments in the event of long-term sickness or unemployment, will no longer be available with any Lloyds TSB, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Cheltenham & Gloucester or Black Horse personal loans, credit cards and home loans. New customers taking out personal loans or other financial products will receive the British Banking Association’s pamphlet on PPI.

Lloyds customers who already have PPI policies on personal loans and credit cards will only be able to claim on them up until the end of July, while mortgage-holders will have until 20 November.

A spokesman for the banking group said: “This move reflects the uncertainty around the regulation of PPI sales and processes. The Group believes further changes in regulation will make it uneconomic to continue to offer these products in their current form.”

He insisted that the move was unlikely to have a “material impact” on the group’s profits.

The Financial Services Authority and the Competition Commission recently said that there needed to be changes to how PPI was sold to borrowers after a host of complaints. Today, a commission spokesman said that Lloyds’ move would not alter its plans to press on with a ban on point-of-sale PPI.

Lloyds Banking Group was one of the financial groups that fought hard against the proposed ban, insisting that this would leave borrowers unprotected and likely to fall into bad credit through missing repayments.

The new committee is intended to lessen the extreme effects of swings in the financial cycle to prevent a recurrence of the credit crunch that led to the ongoing global economic downturn. Issuing a consultation paper, the Treasury revealed that there will be 11 members on the committee, chaired by the Bank’s governor. Other members will be made up of current deputy governors for monetary policy and financial stability. Additionally, executive directors for markets and financial stability will join the chief executive of the planned Consumer Protection and Markets Authority (CPMA) on the committee.

There will also be four members from outside the Bank and a Treasury representative. The committee will meet four times a year and will issue its minutes in much the same way as the Monetary Policy Committee, which sets the base rate of interest for credit cards, mortgages and other forms of finance such as unsecured personal loans.

This autumn the government will consider handing the regulation of such forms of consumer credit to the CPMA. This will mean that they will manage all the rules and regulations pertaining to personal loans and personal credit that are currently divided between the Financial Standards Agency and the Office of Fair Trading.

The consultation document said: “Bringing together the FSA’s and OFT’s consumer credit functions within the scope of CPMA regulation and creating a regulatory regime covering both consumer credit and financial services could simplify the regulatory regime and lead to better, more integrated protection for consumers.”

Lord Levene of Portsoken is teaming up with Sir David Walker, a banker who had previously led a government review into the boardroom practices of banks, in what is currently known simply as “Project New Bank”. The partners have let it be known that their new enterprise will be a bank run on traditional lines – with its focus very much on personal finance, household finance and support for small businesses, offering clients current accounts, savings accounts, mortgages, unsecured personal loans and other forms of credit.

As it aims to be the first new high street bank set up after the big crash, it will not be getting involved in the risky world of investment banking. Lord Levene and Sir David plan to snap up those bank branches and customer accounts that the Government has directed Lloyds Banking Group and Northern Rock to sell off as part of the conditions agreed to for their state bailout.

With the Government asking at least £1.5 billion for Northern Rock and £4 billion for the 600 Lloyds branches under the hammer, the pair will have to raise a great deal of cash.

The first such enterprise to be launched in the UK for 150 years, the new bank plans to open seven days a week and to offer bank accounts and unsecured personal loans, but without the “stupid bank rules”.

In a poll for the website, some 60 per cent of respondents claimed that they didn’t worry about their debt levels, even in the event of their becoming unemployed. Only 35 per cent said that they were concerned at the prospect of receiving a visit from a debt collector, and 66 per cent said that it would not bother them if they got into too much debt to pay their energy bills.

Only 43 per cent of indebted households would be concerned if they were unable to pay their mortgage or rent and only 15 per cent admitted to being worried about missing two or more payments on their credit cards or unsecured personal loans. Perhaps most alarming of all, 17 per cent of respondents said that they wouldn’t care if they fell out with friends and relatives over owed cash.

moneysupermarket.com head of loans and debt Tim Moss warned of the perils of bad credit: “Missing a payment, whether to a credit card, mortgage or utility provider, can mean serious trouble; not only will consumers increase their overall debt levels, but their chances of obtaining the best credit products in the future will be severely reduced,” he said.

“The era of debt-financed consumer spending is over, so people will need to take extra time to manage their finances and consider lowering their monthly outgoings. Consumers should ask themselves if they really need a new car, the latest Sky package or those new shoes. Debt consolidation is another way of managing multiple debts.”

Searching online is a good way to spot the best deals on unsecured personal loans for debt consolidation.