Many paying for fuel with credit cards

April 14, 2011

For many people credit cards have provided a convenient and simple means of making payments instead of paying cash or using cheques. However, it appears that these days credit cards have become an essential tool to help people afford to fill up their cars so that they can get around. Many people have used their cards at petrol stations in the past simply because of the convenience that they provide. However, these days people are said to be using them out of necessity.

As all drivers will know the cost of petrol and diesel has rocketed over recent months, and the cost of filling up a tank has soared. As a result of this many people have had to resort to using their credit cards to pay for fuel at petrol stations because they cannot afford to do anything else, and this has sparked concerns about the knock on effect that this will have on consumer debt levels.

Daily living costs have soared in many areas recently, yet many people have seen their pay either frozen or reduced because of the recession and the financial climate, which has left most struggling to cope with the rise in the cost of living. Many people are not only paying for their fuel with their credit cards but are also now meeting other essential living costs with their cards. Many are unable to make much more than the minimum repayment after using their cards to this degree and will come to a point where they have maxed out their card and have massive debts to pay as well as still having to find a way to meet the cost of living.

One official said: “With inflation hitting 4.4 per cent last month, it’s not surprising that many families need to resort to using their credit cards for more and more living expenses. But we believe this does highlight just how important it is to keep on top of credit commitments overall.”

Tags: Card, Money Management, past, official, necessity, recession

January debts lead to missed bills

February 2, 2011

It has been reported that many people have been missing important bill payments in the month of January, as they struggle to make payments on their higher than usual January debts. Over the Christmas and New Year period many people turned to finance such as their credit cards in order to fund purchases that they were making over the festive season. This has now resulted in the financial hangover that comes along every January, where consumers have to deal with the headache of starting repayments on their debt.

For many people the arrival of their credit card statements has resulted in them having to juggle their finances in order to budget for the repayment. Many have not had the disposable income to do this without making cutbacks elsewhere, and in some cases this has meant having to reduce the payments that they are paying on their bills.

According to some officials many households are in such a mess with their debt repayments following the costly festive season that they are having to miss bill payments and cut back on buying basic essentials. Many of the people that find themselves in this situation may end up seeking financial advice about their debts, as they realise how difficult it has become to cope with both debts and bill payments. An official from the Debt Advice Foundation said that January was not a time of year when people borrowed money in order to pay essential bills, and in fact it was quite the reverse.

He said: “It’s really the other way around, the debt tends to be racked up in November and December when people borrow money using credit cards, store cards, overdrafts and personal loans, to pay for a Christmas they can’t really afford.”

Tags: bill payments, credit, Money, Card, basic essentials, Finance

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

Tags: GBP, chip and pin, Credit Cards, credit card, Card, record

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