Regulators should crack down on ‘profiteering’ from card companies as Visa hikes interchange fees for shoppers buying from the EU by 475% Visa is the UK’s largest card provider with an 84% share of the card market It appears to be joining Mastercard in raising interchange fees by up to 475% European merchants are billed … Read more
Balance transfer bounce back continues: Banks boost 0% terms after credit card availability hit an all-time low There are now 59 balance transfer deals and 56 purchase deals available Although below pre-pandemic levels these are more than were around in 2020 Banks have increased their interest-free term lengths since the start of the year This … Read more
Treasury pledge to fund £3.8m no-interest loan pilot for hard-up borrowers ‘a step in the right direction’ say debt charities and lenders Scheme could help those who cannot afford to pay interest on loans It is based on an Australian-style community lending scheme Initiative was proposed by previous Chancellor Philip Hammond in 2018 As many … Read more
Thousands of Britons are complaining to the Financial Ombudsman Service about being mis-sold unaffordable guarantor loans, new figures reveal, as Payment Protection Insurance was finally dethroned as the most complained about financial product. Complaints about PPI numbered 6,679, meaning it was not the most complained about product in a three-month period for the first time … Read more
Loan gripes soar during the pandemic as families struggle to afford repayments By Amelia Murray For The Daily Mail Published: 22:01 GMT, 2 March 2021 | Updated: 22:01 GMT, 2 March 2021 Complaints about loans soared last year as families struggled to afford repayments in the pandemic. Guarantor loans, which are typically taken out with … Read more
Surge in internet credit buys: Buy now pay later deals were fastest-growing online payment method last year By Ben Wilkinson for the Daily Mail Published: 22:01 GMT, 23 February 2021 | Updated: 22:01 GMT, 23 February 2021 Credit boom: Buy now, pay later schemes are predicted to account for 10 per cent of UK online spending … Read more
Britain’s transition into a nation of accidental savers last year certainly had an impact on its credit card bill. Those with extra disposable income and nowhere to spend it as a result of the lockdown opted to pay down their debts and fatten their bank balances, where once the nation eschewed a savings habit. Britain … Read more
Borrowers of Britain’s booming £2.7billion ‘buy now, pay later’ industry will soon be able to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service after it was announced lenders would be regulated under new government plans. It comes as regulators warn there was an ‘urgent need’ to protect shoppers from ‘a number of potential harms’, including the possibility … Read more
Economy may be precarious, tax rises could be near and unemployment is increasing, but 21m people are considering taking out a loan this year once lockdown ends By Jeff Prestridge, Financial Mail on Sunday Published: 21:50 GMT, 30 January 2021 | Updated: 09:58 GMT, 31 January 2021 The economy may be hovering on the edge … Read more
Sainsbury’s shoppers can soon swap Nectar points for Avios air miles… but the rate is less generous than with previous Tesco scheme New tie-up means 400 Nectar points can be converted into 250 Avios points This works out at a conversion rate of 0.625 Avios per point This is less generous than the 2.4 Avios … Read more