Although I take an active interest in personal finance, I’m far from what I’d call an expert on all money matters, so I thought I’d start to enlist the help of some more knowledgeable people in order to answer some questions I have.
In this first post in our new “ask the expert” series, I spoke to Lyndsey from Credit-Card-Comparison-Online.co.uk and asked her a few questions about the credit card industry.
As a current (although soon to be ex) Egg customer, I’m interested to see the fallout from their decision to cancel the credit cards of 161,000 customers. According to Egg, they are no longer willing to give credit to those who they say now pose an unacceptibly high risk. To be perfectly honest, although I’d […]
Credit cards have, probably justifiably, got a pretty bad name, largely down to the trouble that people find themselves in if they’re misused. But of course, there are always two sides to every story, and when credit cards are used responsibly, they can be quite useful. The Money Hospital wrote an article a few weeks […]
Last week it was reported that many credit card providers have been increasing their charges recently, as they look to find new and “innovative” ways of making money from their customers. Whilst many of the bigger fees are hidden away, it is possible to do somehting to avoid them. The Telegraph has published their top […]
Using your credit card cheaply is becoming more and more tricky, as figures released by MoneyFacts shows how credit card companies have increased many of their fees recently. It’s the good old fashioned cash withdrawal which is yet again being used by providers to sting cardholders. According to the MoneyFacts figures 69 cards increased their […]
One of the big personal finance stories of the week concerned a study by the charity Shelter, which suggested that over a million people in the UK have payed for their mortgage on their credit card in the past year. The survey questioned over a thousand people, of which 6% said they had put their […]
Apacs, the UK payments association, has released 2 guides discussing payment card options for teenagers and ‘young adults’. According to Apacs, 86% of 18-24 year olds carry some sort of plastic in their wallets, and these guides aim to help them make the right decision when choosing payment cards. And given that 16-17 year olds […]
Credit card debt can be a scary thing, even for those of us who supposedly should know what we’re doing with our finances. In The Debts That Wouldn’t Die, The Fool gives a few scenarios of how long it can take to pay off a credit card debt if you’re only paying the minimum amount: […]
If there’s one financial product I’d suggested you try to avoid for as long as possible at university, it’s credit cards. Nothing can hurt your finances as much as a couple of grand sitting on your card steadily growing as the interest mounts up. Recent studies suggest that 43% of students have a credit card, […]
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 […]