NowMyNews

/li> 5 shares 11 comments Almost half of people who own a credit card are running the risk of being shocked at their bills as they do not know what interest rate they are on, a new study has claimed. The Moneywise Consumer Opinion Survey of 20,000 people found that 46.5 per cent of credit card holders had no idea of the rate on their card. Given that interest rates vary from the advertised rate, with the best rates generally given to those with the best credit records, being unaware of the rate can mean unknown added costs for those who do not pay off their bills on time. Unaware: Half of us don't know what interest rates there are on our credit cards. Credit cards typically carry interest rates of around 18.9 per cent Representative APR, and providers have to give the best advertised rate to 51 per cent of successful applicants under EU law.   More... Why were we charged £16.69 interest on our credit card bill when our balance was just £100? The gender

/li> 12 shares 14 comments Two payday lenders have surrendered their trading licences after a crackdown by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). The OFT said that it is also currently investigating three more payday loans firms for bad business practices and they too could be shut down. The OFT could not name them for legal reasons. The Payday Loan Company Limited – which operates under a number of names including Cashnet and Paydayloans.co.uk - and Anfield Cheque Cashing Centre have both given up their consumer credit licences and will no longer be able to trade. Update: The OFT said that two payday firms had now surrendered their licences and three were still being investigated as part of its action on the sector. It comes after the consumer body last month sent letters to 50 leading payday lenders asking them to take immediate action to overhaul their businesses. The OFT accused firms of failing to conduct adequate assessments to see if applicants can afford

/li> 12 comments Why is it easier to promote debt rather than savings? Am I the only person to notice that while there are adverts everywhere exhorting us to borrow – often at punitive rates of interest – there are far fewer encouraging us to save? One answer has to be that current regulations perversely make it easier to promote debt than to encourage long-term saving through, for example, a tax-friendly Isa or a flexible self-invested personal pension. If you are a payday lender offering short-term loans at rates of several thousand per cent APR, as long as you make that clear you can more or less advertise where and how you please – you can even ridicule the elderly as Wonga does with its sad puppet characters Betty, Earl and Joyce. Student campuses, Tube trains, bars –  you name it, you can be sure a payday lender will be pushing  its expensive wares.   More... How to get out of debt: Your ten-step plan to getting your finances back under control The best balance t

/li> 7 shares 23 comments One good turn: I used credit cards to help two family members pay for university courses, now I'm struggling to pay it back. I am an aged widower in good health with credit card debt as a result of helping two members of my family. They had a laudable ambition in their 40s to work for useful mature student degrees while cutting down to part-time jobs. They were very successful and now have far better jobs. I can service the monthly payments to the credit card companies in excess of the minimum but am finding the rates of interest a disgrace. How can I come to some sort of deal to pay off this debt? G. P., Suffolk. Tony Hazell, of Money Mail, says: My first thought is that you should ask the two family members to help you to repay the debt. They, after all, have benefited from your generosity, so it seems wrong that you should be struggling now as a result. My second thought is that credit cards are possibly the worst way to hand

/li> 29 shares 9 comments More than 30 credit unions are taking the fight to payday lenders by signing up to a landmark expansion project that is hoped to save Britain's low earners £1billion in loan interest repayments. It is hoped that the Association of British Credit Unions-led project will attract a million new members over the next five years, with the help of a £35.6million investment previously pledged by the Government to transform the sector. More are expected to join the first wave of 31 credit unions that have signed up, with customers expected to benefit from the 'economies of scale' that will allow the unions to offer lower interest rates on loans, better rates on savings, and an improved online and smartphone presence. Fighting payday lenders: Manchester-based Voyager Alliance Credit Union services Britain's passenger transport industry, and is one of the 31 organisations involved in the expansion. Credit unions are community-bas

/li> 0 comments   Ticket prices for next month's FA Cup final have smashed through the £100 barrier for the first time, sparking outrage among supporters. Final insult: Tickets prices for the FA Cup final, which could feature Wayne Rooney if Man Utd beat Man City this weekend, have soared Prices for the most expensive tickets to English football's end-of-season showpiece will cost £115, an increase of 22% on last season, despite the financial crisis gripping the nation. Fans of semi-finalists Manchester United, Manchester City, Bolton and Stoke will travel to Wembley this weekend, and the followers of two of those sides will be expected to make the journey again next month, hitting them hard in the pocket. Kevin Parker, secretary of the Manchester City Supporters' Club, said: 'If you can afford £115 for what will be our first FA Cup final since 1981, you will pay it but the reality is some people just can't afford it. Paying that amount of mone

/li> 0 comments   Sports fans hoping to sell unwanted Olympic tickets could be fined £20,000 for ticket touting. Costly: If you end up with more Olympics tickets than you want- you must wait to sell them on The clampdown will come as a blow to those who might end up with more Olympic tickets than they need because of the lottery process for buying. Anyone who wants to sell or exchange a ticket must do so through the official website - but this will not be set up until next year. It means anyone with extra tickets will have to wait at least eight months before trying to recover their money. Applications for Olympic tickets closed last night. Payment will be taken from bank accounts some time between May 10 and June 10, although applicants will not be told which tickets they have secured until June 24. Organisers are determined to ensure that no one profits from the Olympics by selling on their tickets. The Government recently increased the fine for ticket t