Mastercard faces two days in front of Britain’s highest court to determine whether it potentially owes every adult in the UK a collective £14billion. Former financial ombudsman Walter Merricks is taking the card provider to court, claiming the fees it charged shops between 1992 and 2008, declared unlawful by the European Commission, resulted in consumers … Read more
Thousands of people receiving refunds for cancelled flights and holidays should check their credit card statements, as they may find they get less back than expected. Britons who book trips with holiday rental listing sites often find themselves being charged non-sterling transaction fees, with their cards billed in foreign currency. But many may be surprised … Read more
Plastic purge: Britain’s personal debt pile SHRANK in March as people shun credit cards amid coronavirus crisis Bank of England found households paid back £3.8bn more than they borrowed Of that, £2.4bn came from credit cards and the rest from other loans The bank said a collapse in new lending was the big reason, as … Read more
American Express customers who opened a credit card shortly before coronavirus pandemic get extra time to spend and rack up bonus points Amex often give a points bonus if you spend a certain sum in three months These can be Amex points, British Airways air miles or Nectar points It has doubled the time limit … Read more
Banks will increasingly tighten lending criteria over the next three months, approvals for credit cards and loans will fall and interest-free term lengths will shrink, banking giants and building societies predict. The Bank of England’s latest credit conditions survey revealed lenders by a large margin believe the availability of unsecured credit for households will decrease … Read more
Balance transfer mix-up meant my £3,500 credit card bill was ‘rejected’ but ended up on both cards… and left me charged interest I’d tried to avoid Neil Seagrave, 35, applied to make a balance transfer at the start of March He thought the money had been sent from Sainsbury’s to HSBC but it wasn’t The … Read more
Some of the best interest-free credit card offers around have been cut or removed from sale over the last month, as lenders evaluate their offers amid the economic crisis caused by coronavirus. Barclaycard and Tesco Bank have reduced 0 per cent balance transfer and purchase credit card terms throughout March and early April, while Sainsbury’s … Read more
Mastercard bans a conversion con on its prepaid cards which strips millions of pounds a year from British travellers Tourists are routinely offered a chance to pay in their ‘home’ currency This process is called ‘dynamic currency conversion’ Such conversion rates are expensive, as the Mail on Sunday warned last week By Laura Shannon, Financial … Read more
The Financial Conduct Authority today brought in measures to help people struggling with their finances as a result of coronavirus. Fee-free overdrafts of up to £500 will be available to everyone, customers will be able to borrow more than this if needed, and those with outstanding loans and credit card debts will be offered three-month … Read more
Back in early January, when corona was just a mediocre beer, the Bank of England published something odd. For the first time in six-and-a-half years, people paid back more than they borrowed on credit cards. And as unusual as the statistic itself was the bank’s reaction to it. ‘The extra amount borrowed by consumers in … Read more