Archived Credit Card News August 2005

Credit Card News August 2005

Welcome to the archive of credit card and related news for August 2005.

Brits Waste £6bn Due To Poor Knowledge of Credit Cards - Consumers in the UK are paying in excess of £6bn too much because they don’t fully understand their credit cards, moneysupermarket.com has revealed.

South African Credit Card Growth - South Africa has seen a significant rise in credit card growth in recent years, and from a 10% growth rate that was seen at the time as quite remarkable, to over the last couple of years this growth rate has been surpassed

Fears Over Online Credit Card Security - Many credit card customers have said that they would use the Internet more to buy goods and would do more of their personal business on the web, if they thought that the infrastructure that the banks and stores had in place, was made better

Credit Card Incentives Withdrawn - More and more credit card issuers are beginning to withdraw the very incentives that they had put forward to entice you take buy into one of they’re credit cards, with the most recent credit card issuer being Sainsbury’s Bank.

Credit Card Acceptances Fall - It looks like the banks and building society’s that were more than willing to give credit cards, to everybody and anybody as if the were going out of fashion, are starting too change they’re ways, as the amount of bad debtors that cannot pay their bills

US Credit Card Changes - The winds of change are blowing in the American credit card market right now and it is not good news for the consumer.

Credit Card Spending - Do you like to spend on the credit card but are too worried about not being able to help yourself and fall to the temptation of an extravagant purchase that you don’t even need?

New Credit Card Security Issues - There has been a lot of news recently about the problem of ID theft and other security risks associated with credit cards and financial products. Following this recently a number of the larger credit card companies have started advertising their products that are now accompanied by some sort of security protection, hoping to protect their customers and themselves from a loss of profits and also entice those concerned about security issues with the growing threat of ID thef

Credit Card Firms Still Shum Summary Boxes - The majority of UK credit card issuers still do not display summary boxes on their monthly statements. These boxes detail the basic rates, as well as other charges, levied by the issuer.

Credit Card Charges Set To Increase - The recent news that the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is planning on reviewing default charges on credit cards with a view to them being decreased was well received. However it seems that while we may start getting a better deal on default charges on our credit cards, charges on our bank accounts are higher and some likely to rise more

Credit Cards Set To Replace Cheques - The cheque, once a common alternative payment method to cash, will cease to exist within in the next twenty years according to the Halifax.

Watchdog asks for ‘unfair’ credit card charges to be explained - The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has asked the major credit card issuers for an explanation for what it believes to be excessive credit card charges.....The government agency initially concluded that levying charges of up to £25 for late payments on credit card bills was excessive.

Rising Debt of Credit Cards and Loans - We owe over one trillion pounds, that’s one TRILLION pounds. UK consumer debt is spiraling out of control and it seems nothing is being done about it. We are too busy spending on our credit cards to take in the full enormity of the position we are putting ourselves in.

Warning – don’t forget your pin abroad - Its three strikes and your out for holidaymakers who use their credit and debit cards abroad. Card users may find that they will only have three attempts to enter their pin number abroad when using Chip and Pin.

Money For a Rainy Day - According to new research many consumers are unprepared in the case of home emergencies and would need to borrow on their credit cards to cover the cost of basic repairs which most of us will come across at some time or other

Bankruptcies at an all time high - UK credit card companies have come in for fierce criticism as new figures revealed a record number of people going bankrupt due the nation’s growing level of personal debt.

Demand Still Strong For 0% Balance Transfers - The increase in introductions of balance transfer fees from most credit card lenders has not put off UK consumers from taking up 0% balance transfer deals when looking for a credit card. 7/8/05

Ethical Investments Becoming More Popular - From being a fringe issue that not many consumers considered, the idea of using your money ethically has become increasingly popular. Those who buy fair-trade, free range and organic because of the impact on other people, animal welfare and the environment of where and even how our money is spent.

Insiders Advice on Credit Cards - The credit card market in the UK is booming and looks to expand even more, currently there are around 1500 different credit cards on the market. While this is good news for consumers on one hand, having a wide range of credit cards to chose from to get the best deal for them, on the other hand it can be confusing with so many companies and different deals around.

Summer Spending On Credit Cards - It’s been noted that men spend 19% more on their credit cards than women but that figure is set to increase to 37% over the summertime as men spend more on holidays and travel expenses a Morgan Stanley survey reveals

Summary Boxes Are Still Empty - Summary boxes detailing charges and other pertinent information found on marketing literature from credit card companies is a useful tool for many consumers. Halifax has found that similar material on monthly statements which is personalised and includes, among other things, details of a consumers credit limit is welcomed by two out of three customers.

Credit Card Charge Investigation - A frequent complaint from credit card customers relates to charges levied from their credit card company for breaches of contract such as late payment, payment made but not honoured or exceeding their credit limit.

Retail Therapy - Every woman knows there’s nothing like a spot of retail therapy to treat yourself. However with the nation’s debt rising is this really a good habit? According to Sainsbury’s bank, while the amount we spend on retail therapy is rising, consumers are aware of their financial status and what they can and can’t afford.

Brits go on £1.8bn spending spree in Europe - According to figures published earlier this week, Britons are the second biggest spenders in Europe when travelling abroad.

Bank and Credit Card Charges - UK Banks, UK building societies, UK credit card companies. What do all of them have in common? What they all have in common is extortionate charges, with UK banks being the main culprits

Our Rising Debt - It is estimated that on average we now owe just over seven thousand pounds each on debt such as car loans, student loans and credit cards etc. excluding mortgages. That figure is the highest amount to date. Our borrowing has doubled since 1997 where we owed an average of £3,540 each.