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).
UK credit card holders could soon be facing an extra £1bn a year in fees and charges according to a new report, as card issuers look to recoup revenue lost following rule changes to late payment charges.
Image-conscious credit card carriers may soon have a dramatic new look in their wallets after 3M announced the development of a totally transparent material that can be used to make credit cards.
The latest official figures from the UK payment clearing association Apacs show that credit card fraud has fallen by 5% compared to last year’s figures. Total fraud in the first six months of 2006 amounted to just under £210m, which represents a 17% drop over the same period in 2004.
The introduction of chip and pin technology has been credited with the improvement.
Holders of the MyTravel credit card have been warned that they have only a few months to redeem their reward points before February 5th 2007 or risk losing them when their accounts are transferred over to another card.
The marbles card from HFC Bank has changed its product offering, raising its introductory 0% balance transfer period from 9 months to 12 months, an increasingly common offer among credit cards including MBNA Platinum, Virgin, and HSBC.
The card still features a transfer fee of 2% of the balance transferred, minimum £5, and the standard rate has been raised a percentage point to 15.9%.
Marbles was one of the first purely-online credit cards, and has been left looking increasingly basic as newer cards introduce more attractive deals, and HFC believe that the changes will make the card more attractive in a market that is getting constantly more competitive.
The Post Office have finally joined most other balance transfer card providers by charging a 2.5% fee for all balances transferred. The Post Office Card presented one of the few remaining opportunities for credit card ’surfers’ to avoid a fee for a 0% introductory deal.
Lloyds TSB and American Express have partnered up to launch a new card featuring a personal concierge service, aimed at people with busy lives and high incomes. The rate is high at 21.2% typical APR, and with a monthly fee of £4.95 it certainly doesn’t appear to be a cheap card to use. Take the monthly fee out of the equation though and the purchases APR is a more realistic 13.1%.
Credit card provider Mint has launched a new prepaid card in preparation for the upcoming festive season, where gift buyers can load a special debit card with between £10 and £250 and have it delivered to the recipient, complete with a personalised message printed on the card.
The latest version of Marks and Spencer’s &more card offers a couple of new deals on purchases, with a 0% deal on purchases extending for a full twelve months, and a special offer of 0% for two years on instore purchases of M&S furniture worth over £1,000.