On the one hand - good to see tsome effort being made (thanks Unicorn) to speed up this clearing nonsense - on the other hand - why is the 'fast track' not the default and made compulsory for all Banks - wouldnt that be only fair ?
and wid ye credit it - those BankingBoys are at it again -
Banks have increased interest rates on credit and debit cards held by tens of millions of shoppers despite the cost of borrowing falling to its lowest level for more than 50 years, research for The Independent reveals today.
The Bank of England has almost halved its base rate from 5 to 3 per cent since May, but during the same period the average annual percentage rate for credit cards has climbed from 17.2 to 17.6 per cent. Store cards – already in the spotlight after being accused of carrying excessive rates – have hit a peak of 25 per cent, and the high street chains Principles, Karen Millen and Oasis have raised charges for their in-store cards by 4 percentage points – almost a sixth – to 28.9 per cent.
More than £200bn is owed by Britons in unsecured borrowing, including personal loans, overdrafts and credit and store cards – almost one-fifth of total lending.
While the banks have been heavily criticised for failing to pass on the Bank of England's interest rate cut to their customers, so far providers of "plastic" – which include the same banks and some specialist players – have escaped scrutiny for failing to do likewise with their credit cards.
A study of 240 credit cards for The Independent by the banking research group Defaqto shows that between May and November the average interest rate has risen by 0.4 per cent. Some have risen faster – such as the NatWest credit card, which has risen from 13.9 per cent to 16.9 per cent, while HSBC's credit card and the Virgin Money Mastercard have both climbed one percentage point to the same mark. Credit card companies have also raised charges for withdrawing money from cash machines in Britain and abroad.
Last edited by AlfredJPruffock : 11th November 2008 at 09:22.
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