Credit Card News

More than 5.9 customers switched credit cards in the past six months as consumers battled to get debts under control, according to MoneyExpert.com.

Nationwide Building Society sees the joint launch of a new credit card comparison site by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a valuable tool for consumers and a long-awaited addition to the industry.

This Valentine's Day, Nationwide Building Society warns couples not to make the same mistake as last year and instead avoid unnecessary charges while using their card abroad. The Society highlights some money saving tips to help couples to keep costs to a minimum.

APACS, the UK payments association, has issued December 2007 spending figures, which show that spending on plastic over the Christmas period reached £32.2 billion, with £5.4 billion spent online.

Nationwide Building Society warns skiers to be aware of the danger of being caught out by the costly practice of Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC).

The Co-operative Bank has today launched its latest affinity credit card, with Friends of the Earth, offering a new and easy way to support the environmental charity.

Steve Willey, head of credit cards at price comparison site moneysupermarket.com, said: "If Citigroup was simply stopping further credit card spending by riskier Egg customers, then it should be applauded.

David Kuo, Head of Personal Finance at Fool.co.uk says: “We are not surprised that Egg has stopped 161,000 customers from spending more on their credit cards. This is only to be expected as banks review the quality of their customer base as the credit crunch unfolds.

A borrower needing £10,000 could save £1,054 over a four-year term by using a series of 0% credit. card balance transfer offers instead of a personal loan.

One in eight card holders (12%) in the UK have had their credit limits cut according to latest data from independent personal finance website Fool.co.uk. Their spending limits have been pruned back by about 7%. One in a hundred card users (1%) have even had their cards cancelled.

More than five million people have missed monthly payments on credit cards in the past six months, new MoneyExpert.com research shows. And that is a two per cent increase on the previous six months.

Andrew Hagger, head of news and press at Moneyfacts.co.uk shows just how much consumers can save, not only on their credit card, but also on their energy and insurance bills whilst they’re at it.

With the festive season over, research from Sainsbury’s Finance shows that only 61% of people expect to clear their Christmas expenditure within one month. Some 483,000 expect it to take more than a year to do so - 71% of these people are women.

One in four credit card holders will be starting the New Year more dependent on credit than in 2007, with 41 per cent intending to rely on their credit card for day to day living costs such as grocery shopping, according to research from the Post Office.

Nearly 5.5 million consumers missed payments last year, putting their credit rating at risk, according to research by price comparison site moneysupermarket.com.