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 [...]
UK banks are facing mounting losses from credit card customers, with figures from the Bank of England showing write-offs rising to £2.1 billion in the three months to the end of June, up from £1.3 billion in previous quarter. According to a BBC report, the 2010 total for bad credit card debt now looks set [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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