American Express Platinum is fairly exclusive and requires an annual fee of $300, but includes an array of benefits:
• Comprehensive travel insurance for you and your children.
• The travel insurance is so comprehensive that it provides limited financial compensation should your departure be delayed by more than 4 hours, including missed connections, and also if your baggage is delayed by more than 4 hours.
• Accelerated status with hotel and car hire programs.
• Preferential rates on travel.
• Access to Eurostar lounges.
• Personal concierge.
Sifting out the wheat from the chaff should become easier in the UK credit market after a new initiative from the Office of Fair Trading.
In a recent announcement the OFT unveiled “a new programmed of work with card providers and consumer groups to make the cost of cards easier to understand.”
Yippee!! This is long overdue in the UK. Congratulations to consumer group Which? who are known to have exerted pressure on this issue stating that “consumers are choosing credit cards without understanding all the issues that affect the cost of the card.”
Interestingly OFT research indicates that most card holders don’t even bother to compare credit card deals. It’s hardly surprising when you see the sheer volume of small print bundled with each deal.
OFT chief executive John Fingleton said: ‘Credit card pricing has become increasingly complex, with many new dimensions such as interest-free periods. While these . . . give additional choice and value to consumers, they can make it harder for consumers to make informed decisions.
‘This work will consider how pricing information might be improved so as to enable better product comparison by consumers, without stifling valuable competition and innovation that benefits consumers.’
UK’s British Telecom has really gone on the front foot over the last few years. After a period of uncertainty regarding it’s fixed landline business, initiative after initiative seems to be steamrolling the telecoms market. This concerted offensive is now spreading into financial services with a credit card that offers to reduce customers bills as they spend.
The key features of this credit card are as follows:
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The City of London is the leading financial centre in the world. Ok New York doesn’t do badly either!!
But it appears that London may well be becoming a leading centre for fraud too.
According to the Debt Line:
“London has come top in the UK as the region that encounters the greatest amount of credit card fraud, in a new survey.
Some 367,335 cases were encountered in the last five years – more than double the amount experienced in the Midlands, according to InsureandGo.
The amount stolen on cards ranged to upwards of £4,000, highlighting the need for vigilance and card security.”
Interestingly Perry Wilson, a spokesperson for InsureandGo, commented: “As our research shows, holiday card fraud is a massive problem and is continuing to get worse.”
I can only concur that the only credit card fraud I have encountered was on holiday to Spain. Just make sure you never let your card out your site is my advice.
It’s not rocket science but the experts at the UK based Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) have suggested that credit card holders should pay off more than their minimum payment on balances.
More often than not the minimum payment will leave the debt virtually untouched paying off predominantly interest. It’s common stuff but how many of us do it?
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