Comparing student bank accounts isn’t that easy – but take a look at the MoneyFacts best buy table, and you’ll see that the top two accounts offered on their are the Royal Bank of Scotland and Halifax student accounts. Both of these accounts offer 2% interest if you are in credit, but possibly more importantly, […]
Student Finance: New Series
As we’re approaching the start of the new academic year, I’m starting a series of posts looking at the thorny subject of student finance. Studies suggest that this year’s freshers will owe £21,000 on average by the time they graduate, so it’s becoming more and more important that students, and their parents, are thinking about […]
Don’t Fall For This New Telephone Scam
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has issued a warning about a telephone scam that is doing the rounds which involves fraudsters calling up claiming they’re from the OFT, saying that they can help the recipient claim back their bank charges. The callers ask for both personal and financial details, including bank information, and the […]
A Warning For Credit Card Users
The BBC’s MoneyBox radio programme recently featured details of a little known practice which can affect the level of credit available on your credit card. When checking in to a hotel, the hotel may scan your card, and secure an amount of credit from the card to cover the price of the room for however […]
HSBC U-Turn After Facebook Protest
Following on from last week’s post on students pressuring HSBC on Facebook, HSBC have decided to do a U-turn on their plans to scrap interest-free overdrafts on their graduate accounts: Thousands of students on Facebook had threatened to boycott the bank. The National Union of Students said this made all the difference to the protest. […]
Get Better Customer Service By Recording Your Calls
The Money Hospital has a tip to try to get better customer service, or to prove what was said in your phone calls to companies, by recording your calls. We’re all used to hearing the line “your calls may be recorded for training purposes” before sitting in a queue of 30 callers whilst being told […]
Students Pressure Bank Using Facebook
The internet is the power behind yet another consumer protest – this time, students have joined together on Facebook to protest against HSBC’s decision to scrap a 3-year interest free deal on their graduate accounts. Around 3,500 students have joined the “Stop The Great HSBC Graduate Rip-Off” group to try to get HSBC to reverse […]
Are You Getting Caught By These Credit Card Tricks?
The consumer rights company Which? has accused credit card companies of using “ingenious methods” for creating new charges so that they can recoup some money after last year’s decision by the Office of Fair Trading to limit penalty fees to £12. To show just how “innovative” the credit card companies can be, Which? have highlighted […]
Bank Error In Your Favour: Part 2
Around 2 years ago I did a post on what you should do if you found a bank had made a mistake in your favour; crediting your account with money that wasn’t yours. The advice back then was to own up, as the financial obudsman and/or lawyers would rule in favour of the bank unless […]
Sat Nav Thefts Up: Offered As Incentive For Car Insurance
I found it quite ironic today, after having heard on the radio that the number of cases of theft of satellite navigation systems from cars has risen considerably, that Tesco is offering cheap sat navs as an incentive to take out its car insurance. Going slightly off topic – aren’t we in a similar situation […]