Credit Card And Related News For Febraury 2007 -

Welcome to the latest news concerning UK credit cards and other related topics for the month of February 2007

• Anger from Lloyds TSB cash back credit card customers [27.02.07]
  Cardholders that have a Lloyds TSB cash back credit card have expressed anger over a recent announcement by the banking giant that the Create Card cash back program is to be scrapped.
• Transfer your balance to A&L and we'll hike up your interest rate [26.02.07]
  An angry credit card user has expressed her outrage at the Alliance and Leicester, after she was invited to take advantage of a special balance transfer deal and then had her interest rate hiked up by 11%.
• Pre-pay card to go on trial in Liverpool [24.02.07]
  The high levels of consumer debt in the UK have resulted in many people seeing their credit rating go through the floor as a result of being unable to keep up with repayments on loans and credit cards
• Make sure that you are protected against credit card fraud online [23.02.07]
  The UK has become a nation that is not only reliant on credit card spending in the majority of cases, but also places a huge amount of confidence in online shopping.
• MBNA to fine credit cardholders for positive balances [22.02.07]
  MBNA, the giant American credit card provider, recently wrote to its credit cardholders informing them that henceforth if they carry a credit balance on their credit card account they will be fined £10.
• UK consumers face increased costs following PPI clampdown [21.02.07]
  Defaqto, a prominent UK financial research company, is warning UK consumers that they face the very real prospect of increased costs and rates following the recent clampdown by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Competitions Committee into payment protection insurance (PPI) products.
• Capital One Fined By FSA Over PPI [20.02.07]
  One of the UK's largest credit card providers, Capital One, has been fined by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for failing "to have adequate systems and controls for selling PPI and for failing to treat its customers fairly".
• The True Cost of Defaulting on 0% Credit Card [19.02.07]
  Missing one payment on a 0% balance transfer credit card could cost you far more than you think. According to new figures from Moneysupermarket.com, missing a single repayment could end up costing the cardholder a whopping £278.
• One Year On and Almost all UK Shops Have Chip and Pin [18.02.07]
  The Chip and Pin card system is one year old this week and according to new research 97% of UK shops have the new system, designed to reduce card fraud.
• Birmingham Suffers Highest UK Rate Of Card Fraud [17.02.07]
  A new study has revealed that Birmingham has the unenviable title of the UK's card fraud capital. The Midlands city has seen 34% of residents admitting that they have been victims of card fraud.
• What a missed credit card repayment could mean to you [16.02.07]
  It is very easily done by most of us – an overlooked or late credit card payment is not unusual when you lead a busy lifestyle trying to juggle work and family as well as manage your finances.
• Pubs See Increased Use of Plastic [14.02.07]
  According to new figures from APACS, the UK payments association, pubs are witnessing an increase in customers using their credit and debit cards to pay for their drinks at their locals.
• UK Credit Card Probe to be Expanded [13.02.07]
  The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has announced it is to expand its inquiry into UK credit cards by looking into credit card fees. The UK consumer watchdog will broaden the parameters of its investigation and probe "interchange" fees, which retailers pay to banks that issue credit cards.
• Could Citi be targeting Lloyds? [11.02.07]
  A recent report confirmed that the Citigroup had struck a deal with the UK's Prudential to purchase the online banking branch of the financial giant, Egg – a deal that is expected to be sealed in around April and will cost five hundred and seventy five million pounds.
• Credit card consumer slower to act on reclaiming unfair fees [10.02.07]
  Recent data has shown that credit card consumers are slower to act when it comes to reclaiming unfair fees than bank account customers, even though they could find themselves due for a hefty refund in some cases due to unfair charges imposed by the credit card issuers.
• OFT expands the scope of its investigation on UK plastic card charges [09.02.07]
  The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has announced that it now intends to immediately expand the scope of its current ongoing investigation into the fees that are charged by UK plastic card providers on "interchange" fees - the fees that retailers are required to pay to UK banks that issue the cards – to include fees that are paid on immediate debit card purchases, as well as those plastic cards that form part of its current investigation.
• Credit Card Checks Not Up to Scratch [08.02.07]
  Online comparison site, uSwitch.com, has revealed that a staggering 96% of UK credit card applicants did not have to disclose their earnings nor provide proof. Research from uSwitch has revealed that prospective credit card lenders did not ask almost all those applying for a card to provide proof of earnings.
• Are banks acting irresponsibly when it comes to credit card applicants? [07.02.07]
  A recent report in the Guardian suggests that banks and credit card issuers may be acting irresponsibly when it comes to giving out credit cards to applicants.
• Brits go on record credit and debit card spending spree [06.02.07]
  Brits charged a record £31 billion to their credit and debit cards during the festive period in December according to the latest figures published by APACS, the UK’s payments association.
• Million of Britons are ignoring the perils of identity theft [06.02.07]
  According to a report recently published by Callcredit, one of the UK’s leading credit reference agencies, millions of Britons are electing to ignore all of the advice they have recently been receiving about ways they can help prevent the theft of their identity by continuing to throw away personal information in places accessible to fraudsters.
• Seek out the positive side of interest rate rises [05.02.07]
  Over the last six months the UK has seen three interest rate rises enforced by the Bank of England. In August 200 the interest rate was put up by the Bank of England by a quarter of a percent taking it from four and a half percent to four and three quarters of a percent.
• UK Credit Card Spending Drops During Festive Season [03.02.07]
  According to APACS, the UK payments association, credit card spending dropped during December 20006 as consumers opted to use their debits cards to fund Christmas shopping.
• Store card holders could be in line for compensation [02.02.07]
  In the continuing controversy over the mis-sales of PPI – Payment Protection Insurance – by a number of lenders in the UK, it has been reported that many consumers that have been using store cards from major high street retailers could be in line for refunds and compensation
• Chip and Pin could cause problems for consumers [01.02.07]
  When chip and pin technology for debit and credit cards came into force over recent years is was hailed as safe, effective, speedy, and convenient by banks – and in most cases consumers were happy to use this technology in order to conduct card transactions