skip to main content
|

Credit Cards

Moneywise

Message Boards
Property Pensions
Savings Utilities
UK Stocks Investing
Speach bubble Lobbying
Speach bubble Penfold Speaks to the Treasury
Speach bubble The day is near, so beware you Sinners
Speach bubble BTL Lending Profits
Speach bubble Oct Mortgages Flat


Recession

  Just how deep is the trough?
Banking Crisis
 

Are the banks out of the woods?

Stock Market Crash
  Explaining the global market turmoil
Money saving Tips
 

How to beat the credit crunch

Isn't Finance Funny?
 

Scandals and silliness



Moneywise Promotion
Receive a FREE copy of Moneywise magazine
Get your free copy now

Also on Yahoo! Finance
Mortgages Insurance
Loans Credit Reports
Credit Cards Banking
Savings Cut Your Bills

Mortgage articles
13 top tracker mortgages
How to get a mortgage
House price recovery falters
Bypass estate agents and sell your home yourself

View archive

Personal finance articles
5 ways to beat petrol price rises
Earn up to 8% on your savings
8 ways to save money on rail travel
Top restaurant and supermarket deals

View archive

Investment articles
The direction of risk appetite
Going to plan
Risk trade to push EUR higher but Asia's rates are real issue
The secrets of full-time investing

View archive


Credit cards must come clean

By Jeff Salway

The Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) has cracked down on an unfair credit card practices which cost borrowers a startling £500 million a year.

The DTI has now called for transparency and ordered the industry to clarify the repayment structure on every credit card statement.

Credit card providers use a payment hierarchy to clear debts, and most companies use customer payments to repay their cheapest debt first and most expensive last - leaving borrowers saddled with high-interest debts.

From next year, under the Consumer Credit Act, all lenders will be required to highlight the repayment structure prominently near to the closing balance figure on their statements.

Credit warning

Nationwide, one of the few providers to prioritise cheaper debts, welcomed the crackdown but said more needs to be done. Director Jeremy Wood said: "Many credit card providers use low introductory rates to lure people into opening an account. These offers can look very appealing, but when you scratch the surface you discover that credit card holders often don't receive the full benefit of these low rates."

Another new credit warning, following an investigation from the Competition Commission, is that customers who use expensive high-street store cards must be informed on their statement if the interest rate on their card is above 25%.

While this is good news, store cards are still notoriously expensive and should be avoided at all costs.


Useful links:

Send Article by Email  |  Send Article by IM  |  Blog This with Y! 360  |  Printable View

Yahoo! Finance : Credit Cards
  Previous article : Credit card fees - what are you paying for? ( Yahoo!)
  Next article : Best credit cards abroad ( Moneywise)
Yahoo! Finance : Yahoo! Finance - News - Commentary

Archives of