The worldwide credit squeeze is beginning to affect UK borrowers now, with holders of MBNA credit cards seeing interest rates climbing.
It seems that MBNA are trying to recover their losses in other markets by really pressing credit card clients, in some instances simply doubling the interest rate payable and then levying additional payments when accounts have got into difficulties.
The bottom line is that banks like MBNA can do whatever they choose with interest rates when they are classed as variable, which all credit cards are. Right now it looks like the UK borrowers are paying for the difficulties in the USA, literally. A typical example is of a lady who had never missed a payment and was what would be categorised as an excellent credit risk. Her rate went up within a couple of months from just under 16 percent to almost 28 percent. Knowing someone has the means to manage their credit and will pay the extra cost is no justification for doing so.
A new Saga Insurance credit card, called the Platinum Visa Card, has just been launched which is set to offer a fair deal to Saga customers.
One of the biggest factors with the new Saga Insurance card is that transactions are ordered so that the most expensive to repay amounts are cleared first, something few other card providers offer. Furthermore there will be no currency charges for any transactions made in what is called Visa Europe. This includes the EU plus some others.
There is also the usual credit card offer included by Saga Insurance, namely 0 percent on balance transfers and purchases for 6 months. All in all this new credit card can save customers a great deal of money and is sure to be a resounding success.
Well known UK financial services company CIS has been looking at the state of the credit card market and seeing how we as a nation use them.
One of the first things that came to light in the CIS survey was the amount of money spent on the busiest day of the week, namely Saturday. The average Brit will spend over GBP500,000 over the course of their lifetime on that one day alone. Looking at situations when credit cards are used it is the usual suspects of clothes and shoes that top the list, closely followed by social activities like dining out and visiting bars.
The person responsible for credit cards at CIS felt that the findings were very representative of how we live our lives. After a hard week at work Saturday is the day to let our hair down and live a little.
The very best credit card interest rates can be found online at Moneygossip.co.uk – Take a look at the comparison tables there and find the best credit card to suit you.
