It’s always nice to see a credit card linking your personal expenditure with charitable donations. Nationwide’s Comic Relief Card does this very well.
Here’s what the card offers:
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If you’re going on holiday you really don’t want to get stung for currency conversion fees when using your credit card aborad. Most cards charge up to 3%, so on a £100 purchase you’ll actually be paying £103 when you get home. The Nationwide offers an excellent credit card which offers 0% commission free use outside the UK.
In addition the Nationwide card also offers the following:
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Posted by Peter Brady on Wed 30th August 2006 at 07:00 AM, Filed in Credit Tips, Fraud
There are over a 100 million debit, credit, and store cards in circulation around the UK. Therefore opportunities for fraud are huge. Chip and Pin is having an impact but fraudsters are beginning to fight back with ever more elaborate scams.
One well known trick is for fraudsters to copy a card when they swipe it through a bespoke card reader. Criminals are then able to reproduce the card. There have been a number of reported cases recently of card readers being fitted to ATM’s in combination with a small camera so that your card cannot only be replicated but used with it’s Personal Identification Number (PIN).
Various initiatives are launched each year to make counterfeiting more difficult but nothing can ever be full proof.
A few simple measures you can take to help prevent fraud are:
1. Never lose sight of your card.
2. Never write your PIN down.
3. If you have trouble memorising your PIN a useful trick can be to create a story around the numbers. Alternatively, you can simply change your PIN to a year in your life that has significance - not your birthday or wedding anniversary!
4. Always make sure no one is watching when you enter your PIN - however difficult or embarrassing it maybe.
5. Always corroborate your receipts with the card statement, then destroy them using a cross shredder.
6. This is easier said than done, but you should always report lost or stolen cards as soon as possible.
Posted by Peter Brady on Tue 29th August 2006 at 07:00 AM, Filed in Credit Tips
Checking your statement is a pretty boring job and can be difficult to fit into a busy schedule. However, errors do occur, fraud is on the up and double billing does happen, so it is always worth giving your statement the once over. Nowadays, online statements make this task a little easier. If you are suspicious of certain transactions on your account, always corroborate their authenticity with the credit card company.
Always thoroughly check your statement after a holiday. Tourists are natural targets for fraudsters so it pays to be vigilant.
The other thing to keep an eye on is your credit card’s interest rate. Subtle increases can really begin to add up over several months and banks tend to feed on apathy, so be on your guard.
Posted by Peter Brady on Tue 29th August 2006 at 07:00 AM, Filed in
The simple mantra is pay your credit card balance off each month!
It’s important to keep fixed in your mind that a credit card should be used as a tool that can assist with cashflow, budgeting and protects your position on important purchases. Being shrewd with your card and being a “rate tart” in common parlance can save you serious money.
For instance, you can defer payment on goods and services for up to 59 days, without paying a penny in interest. However, you must pay off your entire balance at the end of each and every month. If you fall behind, you will start racking up compound interest at a rate of knots.
Forgetting to pay even the odd month can add up because many cards charge interest from the original transaction dates until your balance plus interest has been cleared. The other thing to consider is that if you were to pay the minimum repayment on say a £2000 balance could mean that the debt wouldn’t be repaid for 40 years with a total repayment cost of treble the original sum. Shoving the debt problem under the carpet is a recipe for disaster, confront it and pay as much or ideally all of your balance each month is just plain clever.
