Capital One has launched a credit card suitable for customers whose credit score has been adversely affected by previous CCJs or defaults. The ‘Balance’ credit card offers 0% on balance transfers until October 2012, the transfer fee is just 1.7 per cent and there is no annual fee. It provides a small, manageable credit limit [...]
Consumers are shunning credit cards in favour of debit cards, digital payment and payday loans, according to a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Although UK households paid off some unsecured debts in 2011, the average debt was around £7,900 at the end of the year. The Ernst & Young Item Club has also reported a [...]
Lloyds Banking Group has decided to withdraw Halifax and Bank of Scotland charity credit cards at the end of February because it doesn’t consider them a cost-effective way of donating to charity. The bank has been issuing charity credit cards for over 23 years and they have raised millions of pounds for charities such as [...]
With household incomes under increasing pressure from inflation and unemployment more consumers are turning to price comparison services to help them reduce their outgoings and the New Year has seen the launch of several new sites. Insurance specialist comparethemarket.com has launched a new service which allows consumers to find which credit cards and loans will [...]
Nationwide has re-launched its Select Visa credit card which offers 0%-on-purchases for 18 months – the longest period currently available on the market for a 0% deal. Cardholders also benefit from commission-free purchases while they are abroad and 0.5% cashback. Balance transfers are eligible for the 0% interest deal, but for 17 months rather than [...]
A pan-European investigation carried out in September 2011 revealed that 70 per cent of websites offering credit cards, loans and finance are failing to meet EU standards. The investigation, which followed a large number of customer complaints, looked at 562 websites across the 27 member states and found that 393 of the sites were failing [...]
Paypal is now more popular than credit cards as the preferred method of payment for online shopping according to a global survey by financial advisory firm KPMG. According to KPMG’s “The Converged Lifestyle” report, consumers worldwide are rapidly adopting new technologies and Paypal is reaping much of the benefit. The study looked at the online [...]
Payments business Visa has reported a 2.3 per cent fall in spending on credit and debit cards over the four weeks to 27 November, compared with the same period in 2010. Last week, which is traditionally one of the UK’s biggest Christmas shopping weeks, spending on cards fell both on the High Street and online, [...]
Credit card holders in the UK are paying less off their balance than at any point during the last two years, which isn’t surprising given the current pressure on household incomes from deteriorating employment conditions and record high levels of inflation. The trend was noticed among ‘classic’ card accounts taken out within the last five [...]
Despite stores offering tempting cut-price deals, shoppers are in a cautious mood in the run up to Christmas according to a high street banking report. Although retail sales were up in October, there was little demand for loans and overdrafts according the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), and while consumers spent a total of £7.2 billion [...]
New figures from Sainsbury’s Bank suggest that nearly two million credit card holders intend to switch providers over the next year, when their 0 per cent balance transfer offer expires. A further 900,000 card holders will switch when their 0 per cent purchase deal expires, according to the bank’s latest research. After the introductory offer [...]
As part of its ‘On Your Side’ campaign Nationwide Building Society has launched a credit card reward scheme which should make shopping more enjoyable for its customers. The scheme, which is available to the building society’s Visa debit and credit card customers, is designed to help their money go further. It offers discounts at several [...]
Banking giant HSBC has today announced it has disposed of its US credit card division to Capital One Financial, as part of a global strategic cost-cutting exercise. The announcement comes shortly after the bank said it would slash its underperforming US branch network by half and also announced it would axe 30,000 jobs globally in [...]
The UK Cards Association has today revealed that credit and debit card fraud continues to decline. According to the Association, fraud losses on UK credit and debit cards totalled £365.4 million in the 2010 year - a drop of 17% compared with 2009. The figure represented a 10-year low and compares with the record high [...]
Consumer group Which? is concerned about surcharges imposed on to consumers who pay by debit or credit cards. It has therefore asked the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to investigate the matter - which sees retailers, local authorities, estate agents and cinemas all impose the charges. However, the “worst offenders” are said to be budget [...]
A report from the homeless charity, Shelter, has revealed that in the last year, 2.6 million Britons have paid their mortgage or rent on their credit card. The figure represents a rise of 50% on the previous year and reveals the extraordinary lengths some are going to in order to keep a roof over their [...]
As part of a crackdown on credit cards and store cards, the Government is considering capping interest rates in a bid to get the consumer a fairer deal. Following the Government’s review into consumer borrowing, Consumer Minister, Edward Davey, and Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mark Hoban, have asked industry experts for their views as [...]
The UK Cards Association has today revealed that credit and debit card fraud continues to decline. According to the Association, fraud losses on UK credit and debit cards totalled £187 million in the first six months of 2010 - a fall of 20%. The group attributed the ongoing fall to a number of factors - [...]
Figures from the Bank of England today revealed that British households opted to repay loans and overdrafts last month. The figures are evidence that consumers are concerned about the uncertainty surrounding the economy and massive spending cuts, opting not to go further into debt. According to the Bank of England, consumers repaid a net £120 [...]
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has today said complaints rose in the first half of 2010. According to the FOS, it received 84,212 new complaints between 1 January and 30 June 2010 – with more than half of these about the top five banks. Lloyds Banking Group, which is 43% owned by the taxpayer, was [...]
Bank of Ireland raises cost of mortgages
The Bank of Ireland has become the latest lender to increase the standard variable rate (SVR) on its mortgages. Around 100,000 UK customers will be affected when the bank increases the SVR from 2.99 per cent, to 3.99 per cent in June There will be a further increase in September, when the SVR will rise [...]
House prices down 1.1% in February
House prices fell 1.1 per cent in February according to The Halifax, contradicting earlier figures from Nationwide suggesting that property prices have increased. According to the Halifax’s three monthly index, house prices were 1.1 per cent lower in February than in the previous three months. The mortgage lender’s annual index showed that property prices fell [...]
Debit card transactions declined by Yorkshire and Clydesdale
Customers of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank have been experiencing problems with debit cards being declined due to computer changes. The problem initially occurred while the banks, which are both part of the National Australia Bank (NAB), were transferring their systems operations to an external contractor on Sunday morning. Problems with some Mastercard debit transactions persisted [...]
Banks write to customers over PPI mis-selling
Banks are writing to millions of customers advising them that they may have been mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI), following the release of new guidelines by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The FSA estimates that between four million and 12 million letters will be sent out, but not everyone who has been mis-sold PPI will [...]
Confidence in pensions plummets ahead of auto-enrolement
Public confidence in pensions has fallen to an all-time low just months before the Government starts automatically putting every worker into one, new research showed today (Weds). A survey for the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) found 54% of all employees are not confident in pensions compared to other ways of saving. 37% said [...]
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) expects the UK economy to grow more slowly than previously forecast and says it faces “serious challenges”. In its quarterly economic forecast the BCC forecast growth of 0.6 per cent in 2012, a slight decrease from its previous forecast of 0.8 per cent. It expects the government’s efforts to [...]
Pension annuities should be clearer under new code
A new code of conduct is being launched by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) which should ensure that the sale of annuities is fairer and more transparent. The new code is designed to make it easier for people to make decisions about their retirement income, including being more confident in using the so-called ‘open [...]
Saga sees financial green shoots for over-50s
Saga’s latest quarterly report is slightly more optimistic about the financial health of the over 50s than its report for the final quarter of 2011, but the organisation warns that the “green shoots” of recovery are very tentative at the moment. Compared with a year ago, the report suggests that the quality of life for [...]
Drivers switch to autopilot after 11 minutes
A study by car insurance provider, Esure, has found that drivers suffer from a lapse in concentration just 11 minutes into a long journey. Esure questioned more than 1,000 motorists in the UK about their driving habits and attention span. 22 per cent of those surveyed said they fell into ‘autopilot’ easily, while 34% said [...]
Metro Bank launches online ISA service
London-based Metro Bank is partnering with Australian online banking solutions provider Sandstone to create an online application platform for Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs). CallCredit will provide verification and credit checking data for the new service, which will be available in time for consumers to take advantage of the new Isa allowance, starting in April. This [...]
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