Fancy £140 from Halifax? Learn about their newest offer and this week’s other product launches here.

Mortgages

Yorkshire and Chelsea Building Societies have launched mortgages at 1.39 per cent and 1.38 per cent for borrowers with 35 per cent deposits. The Yorkshire product has a fee of £845 while the Chelsea product carries a fee of £1,545.

Equity release lender Stonehaven has launched an over-55s mortgage to allow borrowers to repay their mortgage in full to safeguard equity and reduce the cost of the overall loan. Lump sums of up to £4m can be released and borrowers can repay up to 10 per cent of the initial loan each year without paying any penalty. Rates are available between 5.99 per cent and 6.08 per cent and loan-to-values range from 11 per cent to 39 per cent.

The Nottingham Building Society has reduced rates on its buy-to-let range on products up to 75 per cent LTV. The East Midlands-based lender is now offering a two-year buy-to-let variable rate of 2.99 per cent and a three-year buy-to-let variable rate of 3.59 per cent. Both products are also available for remortgaging and have a £499 fee.

Insurance

Exeter Family Friendly has launched a Private Medical Insurance (PMI) plan aimed at the entry-level market. The new plan, Health Essentials for Me, includes cover for in-patient and day-patient surgery and treatment, but no cover for diagnosis and consultations. Customers can choose whether they would like to include unlimited cover for cancer and whether to add a voluntary excess to the compulsory excess of £100.

Banking

Customers switching their current account to Halifax before Christmas will earn a bonus of £140 through cashback website Quidco. Customers need to apply through Quidco before Christams Eve and use the Current Account Switch Service. They’ll receive £100 through Halifax within seven days and the additional £40 from Quidco within 90 days.

Lloyds Bank has extended the Club Lloyd current account to its private banking clients, offering access to rates on other products including a monthly saver at four per cent AER.

Investments

Ethical investment platform Abundance has launched Europe’s largest ever crowdfunded solar project. Oakapple Berwickshire will involve homes across Berwickshire fixed with 9 roof mounted solar PV systems. Investors can contribute as little as £5 and will enjoy an effective rate of return of 7.5 per cent over the project’s 20-year term with the option to sell their holding at any time on the Abundance bulletin board.

Aviva has launched the AIMS Target Income Fund, an actively managed, globally unconstrained fund with a target annual income of four per cent over the Bank of England’s base rate before corporation tax. The fund is managed by Peter Fitzgerald, head of multi-assets and Ian Pizer, Nick Samouilhan and Brendan Walsh, fund managers in the multi-assets team.