Posted by Tom Wilkins on Fri 7th September 2007 at 06:00 AM, Filed in Credit News
According to the Daily Mail Judge Abrahams, at Luton County Court, forced Barclays to stop applying any more charges until a High Court test case settles the legal issues involved.
The test case is the culmination of a long running battle over unfair penalty charges. According to official figures Barclays has repaid £87m in overdraft charges this year alone. The five main banks have repaid a staggering £400m in charges since January.
“The OFT and the banks are currently involved in bringing a test case to clarify whether bank charges are unlawful. Consumer lawyers claim that the fees the bank collects when a customer goes overdrawn, or a direct debit is bounced, contravene consumer contract legislation.”
It is likely to be many months before the case is heard.
Posted by Tom Wilkins on Wed 5th September 2007 at 06:00 AM, Filed in Credit News
In a sting operation backed by the People (a British newspaper), reporters from the paper caught various retailers selling pre paid credit cards without ID checks. Kids are known to use these cards for purchasing alcohol, weapons and gambling online.
From it’s research, the People established that that UK youngsters can obtain pre-payment cards for as little as £3 from shops and newsagents with negligible checks on age, name or address.
These cards can then be used by youngsters to buy adult goods and services online.
The teenager used by the paper to expose this story said:
“It was unbelievable how easy it was, Kids at school buy these cards so they can order stuff off the internet. Once you have one, you can get away with just about anything.”
UK law specifies that credit cards are only available to those over the age of 18 and even then the individual must go through rigorous credit checks and reference checks. Whether these checks are rigorous enough seems to be questionable.
Posted by Tom Wilkins on Tue 4th September 2007 at 06:00 AM, Filed in Credit News
UK consumers rely heavily on credit card debt for a variety purchasing activities.
What about UK businesses?
A recent report suggests business can find flexibility, ease and convenience by using credit cards instead of petty cash.
The report says:
Read more...
Posted by Tom Wilkins on Mon 3rd September 2007 at 06:00 AM, Filed in Credit News
There have been some fascinating results emanating from the eighth annual poll on Teens and Personal Finance by Junior Achievement Worldwide. Most of the evidence seems to indicate that teenagers are often developing dubious credit habits.
One of the key tenets of the report suggests:
“Many teens seem to be taking advantage of parental responsibility for minors’ debts by not bothering to learn how to manage their credit card’s monthly payments,”
i.e the bank of mummy and daddy jump in to help - and the kids know it!
Interesting stats coming from the poll include:
• Among teens ages 13-14, only 2.7 percent report having credit cards.
• The percentage nearly doubles to 5.3 percent for teens 15-16.
• Percentages double again to 10.6 percent for 17-year-olds.
• Percentages nearly triple to 28.8 percent for teens 18 or older.
However, this growing market of teenage credit card consumers seems to be lacking the nous to manage their debts sensibly
Read more...
Posted by Tom Wilkins on Fri 31st August 2007 at 06:00 AM, Filed in Credit News
Credit cards do offer a wide range of useful features. However, one complaint that often crops up is the cost of withdrawing cash.
It seems that many credit card companies see cash withdrawals as an easy meal ticket. I suppose they’ve got to make their money somewhere but the fees and interest on cash withdrawals is gradually becoming a problem.
Here’s why:
1. Card issuers begin charging you interest as soon as you withdraw the cash.
2. In contrast, many cards offer interest free periods on purchases if you pay off the balance in full.
3. Interest rates charged on cash withdrawals from credit cards is significantly higher than that charged on purchases. E.g American Express charges 20pc on cash withdrawals, compared with 18.9pc on purchases, according to a recent survey..
4. A fee of 1.5% is usually charged on any cash withdrawal.
5. Really watch out when you’re abroad. You might get a double whammy of cash charges and interest, plus currency conversion fees. Ouch. UK based Nationwide Credit Card is always best for use on holiday.
