A new prepaid Mastercard has been launched by Virgin Money, to complement their existing credit card offerings and other financial services. The card, which is issued on behalf of PrePay Technologies, will cost an initial set-up fee of £9.95 plus a 2.95% fee on each transaction.
New figures from payments association Apacs reveal a record high for spending on plastic, with a total of £321 billion spent in 2006.The amount includes £195 billion spent on credit cards, with the rest accounted for by debit cards which continue their strong rise in popularity.
Plastic now accounts for nearly a third of all payments made in the UK.
Credit card giant Barclaycard has introduced a new credit that it says will help in the fight against global climate change. The Breathe card offers incentives for its holders to spend in a greener way, such as offering lower interest rates for spending on public transport, and discounts on green energy supplies.
BT (British Telecom) have launched a new credit card that can save you money off your phone bill, by automatically reducing your telephone costs as you spend using the card. The BT Card is issued by MBNA Europe, adding to their already extensive affinity and charity card portfolio.
A unique new kind of credit card has been launched by Lloyds TSB in partnership with Airmiles. The Duo Card account, with which you can earn 1 Airmile for every £10 you spend, has the innovative feature of being compatible with both Mastercard and American Express.
The Laura Ashley chain of fashion and furniture shops has been caught up in yet another unsolicited credit cards row after its storecard partner GE Capital sent out thousands of credit cards, and the PINs needed to use them, to the store’s customers without the prospective cardholder applying for them.
Thousands of Egg Card account holders will have to pay significantly higher rates after a review of customer risk levels was conducted by the company. With just a week’s notice, some customers will now have their APR ramped up from the current rate of 16.9% to a whopping 21.9%, which just about takes the egg card into the territory of a ‘bad credit’ credit card rather than a general purpose one.
Citigroup have quadrupled their UK customer base to 4m with the acquisition of online bank Egg, in a deal which saw them pay £575m to former owners Prudential.
Ever wondered how credit card companies make a profit off 0% balance transfer deals?
New research from financial comparison site moneysupermarket.com has estimated that nearly 1 in five would-be ‘rate tarts’ fail to move their balance to a new card before their introductory offer ends, and this failure costs a collective £1.7bn in interest each year.
Card issuer Capital One have been strongly criticised for sending out unsolicited credit card cheques to an undisclosed number of customers, with debt campaign group Money Advice Scotland saying they plan to raise the matter with the Banking Code Standards Board (BCSB).