The Rise Of Contactless Credit Cards
December 10, 2009
Contactless credit cards allow the consumer to make purchases under £ 10.00 without even having to swipe or input a pin number, with customers only occasionally asked to input a pin for extra security measures. Read more
Safe Online Shopping This Christmas
December 1, 2009
With over 32 million people using the credit cards on the web to do their shopping, the U.K. Payments Administration have advised the everyone of us should be doing what we can in order to prevent fraud happening. Read more
Are You Using Your Credit Card For Christmas This Year?
November 30, 2009
Recent research, by moneysupermarket.com, has shown that 66 % of Brits have not saved enough money for Christmas this year. 18 % have saved enough, 34 % are on target to have saved enough and 17 % said they are turning to a credit card, resulting in many getting themselves into debt in order of being able to provide a perfect Christmas for the family. Read more
New Rewards Card From The AA
November 17, 2009
There is good news for car owners looking for a new credit card as the AA is putting a new reward card into the card market that will ease the “financial pain” drivers face in the current climate. Read more
Job Cuts at HSBC
November 10, 2009
Banking giant HSBC is to cut 1700 jobs in the U.K. mainly from their collections and credit card operations, which adds to the already gloomy downturn in employment of the financial services industry. Read more
Case Against MasterCard Dropped By European Union
October 22, 2009
An executive arm of the European Union has dropped a case against the credit card giant MasterCard in relation to the transaction fees that the card network levies. The case has been dropped on the condition that the credit card giant cuts its transaction fees, but this has made many retailers angry, as they were looking for these card fees to be scrapped altogether rather than just being reduced. Read more
Consumers Could Benefit From Fee Free Card Transfers
October 13, 2009
At this time of the year, when many people are still battling to repay the credit card debts that they built up over the Christmas and New Year periods, many cardholders decide to look for suitable alternatives to try and cut the amount of interest that they are paying as well as to try and clear their credit card debt quickly. For those that have outstanding balances on high interest credit card, and who are unable to clear the balance in one go, interest payments can end up being very high. Read more
Credit Card Providers To Face Further Clampdown
October 6, 2009
Credit card providers in the UK are set to face a further clampdown as the UK government brings in measures to cut the temptation of further credit card debt for consumers. The government is looking to bring in a number of measures that could decrease the chances of consumers getting themselves even further into debt at a time when the credit card and other debt levels in the UK are already causing concern. Read more
Credit Card Rates Hiked By Two Major Providers
September 29, 2009
Two major credit card providers have become the latest to hike up their credit card interest rates, despite the fact that the base interest rate in the UK is at its lowest level in the three hundred and fifteen year history of the Bank of England. Officials claim that the two card providers have sneakily hiked up the interest being charged on credit card borrowing by significant levels, thus increasing borrowing costs for their cardholders. Read more
Customers Warned About Using Credit And Debit Cards Abroad Over Easter Break
September 13, 2009
With the Easter holidays now upon us, many people in the UK may be thinking about heading abroad for a break with their loved ones, and many will go armed with their credit cards either for general spending or just for emergencies. However, a recent report has stated that the cost of using both credit and debit cards whilst abroad can really mount up, and consumers are better off avoiding the use of their plastic cards unless there is a dire need to do so, as otherwise they could be hit with a series of charges. Read more
Details Of Thousand Of Credit Card Users Published On Internet
September 6, 2009
In a recent and frightening breach of security the credit card details of thousand of British consumers were published online, where they could apparently be found with ease using just a quick search on Google. Around nineteen thousand credit card details are thought to have been made available on the Internet, in an incident that took place late last month. This is likely to add to the already significant concerns that many consumers harbour about becoming the victims on online credit card fraud. Read more
Lloyds TSB attacked over credit card gambling
August 25, 2009
High Street bank, Lloyds TSB, has been attacked by debt charities and politicians over an issue relating to gambling on credit cards. The bank has been accused of encouraging its customers to gamble on their credit cards, thus encouraging both higher levels of debt and gambling addiction amongst its customers. The bank informed its customers by letter that they could use 50 percent of their credit as cash and use it on transactions ’such as gambling’. Read more
Do Not Get Rid Of Your Credit Cards
February 10, 2009
Some people will not be looking forward to their next credit card statement coming through again with the reminder of what was actually spent on them over the festive period. They may be so depressed with the amount on them that they may just cut them up so that no more can be spent but according to credit information provider, Equifax, consumers should not be too tasty in doing so. Read more
Cap The Credit Card Charges
January 20, 2009
The Federation of Small Businesses has advised that small businesses have an important role in the turning around of the current economic climate and in order to help getting this started has called for there to be a cap on credit card interest rates. 26% of small business owners use their own personal credit cards along with 23 % that use their company cards to finance their businesses. Read more
Credit Card Firms Will Have To Do More To Assist Borrowers
January 14, 2009
Following a recent meeting with the Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, officials from the credit card industry have pledged to try and assist struggling borrowers more through the deployment of a number of measures. Over recent weeks credit cards have hit the financial headlines a number of times, namely because of the high rate of interest charged on borrowing despite the aggressive base rate cuts, and because of increases in various other related fees and charges. Read more
Consumers Should Fight Credit Card Increases
January 12, 2009
Consumers are being urged to bear in mind that hikes on credit card interest can be fought if the credit card company appears to have put up the rate on the card for no apparent reason. Many credit card companies have been increasing both the interest rate and the charges on their credit cards, and this is despite the fact that the base rate has fallen by almost two thirds since the end of last year. This has caused concern amongst campaigners, consumers, and even the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, who has been trying to address the issue. Read more
Credit Cards To Hit £ 7 Billion
January 6, 2009
It is thought that credit card holders will be trying to transfer as much as £ 7 billion at the beginning of the New Year in order to take advantage of introductory rates that are that are on offer. Read more
Credit Cards Costing More
December 15, 2008
Credit Card companies are going against government warnings to make their credit card deals fairer to customers and face investigations by industry watchdogs if do not change their ways. Read more
Store Cards Versus Credit Cards
November 24, 2008
Consumers that decide to go down the road of store cards rather than credit cards this Christmas could be landing themselves with interest of around £ 1.9 million, which could equate to £ 1.4 million more than what they would spend if they took a credit card according to uSwitch.com. Read more
Increased Credit Card Spending
November 23, 2008
Surprisingly new figures have shown that even in the current economic climate spending on UK credit cards and debit cards in the month of September increased. Read more
Lenders Raising Costs
November 23, 2008
Over the last three months the cost of credit card borrowing has gone up considerably with new figures showing that more than 10% of credit card providers are raising their rates. Sixteen credit card providers have put up the interest rates on purchases since August and all this has happened not taking into account the drops of Bank of England base rate. All this information has been put togeather by financial information group Moneyfacts. Read more
Lenders To Ignore The Drop
November 10, 2008
While millions of home owners will be benefiting from the recent 1.5% rate cut, credit card holders look unlikely to expect there repayments to fall. According to financial data firm Moneyfacts although the Bank of England have dropped interest rates to 3% they can expect to pay the average APR% which is around 5 times that figure. Read more
Charity Credit Cards
October 28, 2008
Many people in this day and age like to give money or make donations to charity, and even in the current financial climate where finances are strained for many households people still think about those less fortunate than themselves and try to offer as much in the way of financial support as they can. It can be difficult to decide what charity to support when there are so many worthy causes but most people have heir own favourite charity or a cause that is close to their hearts, which they make donations to. Read more
The Xmas Purchase Solution
October 28, 2008
For the most cash strapped families who will find it hard this Christmas due to the credit crunch, there is a new credit card in town!! The only problem is that it is the most expensive credit card in the UK with an interest rate of 227%. This is being promoted as a solution for those cash strapped families. Read more
Declined Applications For Financial Products
October 19, 2008
According to research carried out by MoneyExpert.com, around 5 million applications for new credit cards and loans have been rejected by lenders over the last six months. The figures work out that about 56 % of the population of the U.K has applied for such financial products in the last six months. Read more
Different Types of Credit Cards
October 16, 2008
If you are looking to take out a credit card you will find that the wide choice of credit cards on the market these days makes it easier for you to find a card that is perfectly suited to your needs and circumstances. If you have a good credit history and rating you will usually find that you can choose from a wide range of credit cards, although the choices for those with bad credit will be far more limited. It is important to make sure that you choose the right card for your needs and circumstances, as otherwise you could end up paying over the odds or could miss out on some valuable benefits. Below is a summary of some of the popular credit card types available these days: Read more
Cash Withdrawls In the UK
October 16, 2008
According to research done by U Switch, consumers using credit cards in the UK are making over 38 million cash withdrawls every year and they are doing this at nearly twice the average APR% which is about 17.2%, which equates to an average 32%. Read more
Searching for a Suitable Credit Card
October 14, 2008
The world of credit cards has become something of a minefield in many ways over recent years, and this is because there are so many different credit card types available from such a wide range of lenders. For those with good credit the choice of credit cards is very good, and it is possible to find credit cards to suit most needs and circumstances. Credit cards have become increasingly popular over recent years, with many enjoying the convenience, ease, flexibility, and even increased security that they offer. Read more
The Credit Fraudsters
October 7, 2008
This year has seen a record high on fraud losses that UK credit cards has ever seen and this is only in the first six months of the year. During this first six months the losses have amounted to a total of £ 301.7 million, although payments group APACS have advised that the growth rate has eased from 26% for the same period of 2007. Read more
The Balance Transfer Battleground
September 27, 2008
The future of the balance transfer fee looks set to spark a battle between the credit cards that are on offer by many of the providers at this current time. Read more
Visa to Launch the Green Credit Card
September 27, 2008
In Europe, Visa, have decided to launch a “Green” credit card which will allow businesses to offset the carbon emissions that have been created on products the card has been used to pay for. Read more
Barclaycards Planning to Change
September 20, 2008
Barclaycard are seeing a change in strategy with the decision to keep the Goldfish brand and by doing this six months after taking the business over when they were strong indications that the Goldfish brand would be scrapped. Read more
Barclaycards Takeover of Discover Financial Services
September 13, 2008
The recent announcement of Barclaycards £ 35 million takeover of Discover Financial Services UK portfolio of 11 credit cards, which include credit cards such as Goldfish, Morgan Stanley, Liverpool Victoria, Leeds Building Society to name but a few, will see a transfer of 1.7 million credit card holders being transfered into Barclaycards cutomer base. Read more