Credit Cards No Longer In Vogue - Last year, the growth in the number of UK credit cards issued slowed to its lowest level since 1995 as consumers turned to their debit cards instead.
New Pre-Paid Cash Card Could Cost You - This week saw the launch of the UK’s first mainstream pre-paid payment card, which is proving quite popular in the States.
Barclaycard Offer Financial Incentive for Quick Payback - Barclaycard, the UK’s largest credit card issuer, is to launch a new scheme that aims to reward those customers who pay off their balance more quickly.
Chip and Pin Ready for Internet Battle - With Chip and Pin debit/credit cards enjoying success battling high street fraudsters, the scheme is now ready to tackle online card fraud.
The Great Store Card Rip-Off - It has finally been confirmed, store cards are a rip-off. The Competition Commission revealed last week that consumers who use store cards are being overcharged to tune of £100m a year.
The End of Balance Transfers - Credit card 0% balance transfer deals seem to have run there course for the people who started them, to try and lure as many customers to they’re credit cards as possible and the reason for this, is what they were trying to make in the first place, money.
Biometrics : The Next Step Against Credit Card Fraud - Chip and Pin though still relatively new concept in the fight against credit card fraud, the next step that the credit card issuers and banks are looking at is Biometrics, which is being looked at as the way ahead in the future of our little plastic friends being the safest form of payment.
The End is Looming For Cheques - Can you remember when the last time you wrote out a cheque in a retailer? Probably not and it is something that you, I suppose, haven’t given a second thought about.
Card Not Present Fraud Increasing - Chip and Pin credit cards were being touted as the big thing to rid us of the menace of credit card fraud in the UK, after results in France who were the first to introduce the system showed that credit card fraud there was down over 70% after it was introduced.
Credit Cards Leading Britons Down a Road of Debt - Britons are on a dangerous road and that road could lead many to the debt trap and then on into the town of bankruptcy.
Watchdogs Investigate Store Cards - Store cards can be a popular way of borrowing to pay for retail goods, particularly with the offers that are associated with them and when taken out for a store or group of stores that are regularly frequented
Are You Balance Transfer Savvy? - Many people apply for another credit card so that they can balance transfer an existing balance from the card that they hold to give themselves a bit of breathing space to help them get their finances back in order, but many who do this do not realise the way that the new credit cad works
Bank’s Try to Cull Rate Tarts - A trend that was started by the banks and other credit card issuers (0% on balance transfers and purchases), which led to many people to do what the credit card issuers, never thought that the customer would have the savvy to do and that was to jump from card to card to finance spending, without having to pay interest.
Egg Hope to Change Consumer Spending Habits - Internet bank Egg has launched a new hybrid account which offers a payment card that doubles both as credit and debit card.
Paying Too Much Interest? - 0% deals on balance transfers, have up until now been the biggest selling point for most banks and credit card issuers in recent years, which have been good for some though they have not been so good for others
Will Clothes Shortage Curb Our Credit Card Spending? - With the news that the new European Union textiles quotas, announced in June, has restricted the shipping of clothes including t shirts, underwear, trousers and dresses, from China will it mean that we are less likely to spend with our credit cards on the high street.
Popularity of Credit Cards - At the end of last year, on the 29 th December 2004, debit and credit cards overtook cash as the preferred method of payment in the UK. Recent research conducted by the Post Office has revealed that this is indicative of a growing preference, particularly among younger consumers, for using plastic over cash
MasterCard Investigation By OFT - Criticisms have been levelled at the credit card market recently by the office of fair trading for the charges applied to their customers and an investigation is currently taking place. However the results of another investigation by the OFT into the credit card industry has been revealed by the OFT this week with MasterCard accused of handling fees that overcharge and stifle competition between March 2000 and November 2004.
Credit Agencies Go Head To Head - The two main credit-checking agencies in the UK, Experian and Equifax are going head to head in an effort to further themselves on the online credit checking services that they provide.
ATM's Installed in Post Offices - If you are fed up with having to stand in a queue in the Post Office to withdraw cash and would rather be somewhere else than lining up in a lengthy queue with others who are there to pay bills
A Pong Coming From My Egg Credit Card - Egg have just seen raise my APR from 14.9% to 15.9% and have jumped the interest charged on cash advances to 20.9%, as they have reviewed they’re services.
Choosing a Better Credit Card Deal - Many of us when it comes to credit cards will choose the first one that we are offered, as long as the APR on the credit card is of an acceptable level and we always tell ourselves that we will be paying off our account at the end of each month anywa