Online shopping has grown at a massive rate over the last decade, to the extent where more money is now regularly spent on the internet than is spent on the high street. Unfortunately, internet shopping presents all sorts of dangers, and there are lots of people out there who are looking to take advantage of unwary customers.

If you have a credit card, however, you are protected to a certain extent. Every credit card on the market, from big ones like Santander credit cards all the way down to small, specialist providers are covered by the Consumer Credit Act, which essentially means that you are not liable for losses resulting from internet fraud, unless you have acted fraudulently or negligently yourself.

That said, sometimes it can be hard to define negligence, particularly if you haven’t taken steps to protect yourself. The first thing that you need to do is make sure that all your passwords are secure, don’t write them down, and try to use different passwords for different sites (although this can get hugely complicated).

Another important thing to do is only work with reputable companies and websites, if a deal looks too good to be true over something like Gumtree, then it probably is – and never, ever give out your details over the internet. Your bank will never ask you for PIN codes online, so watch out for phishing emails.

Another good idea is to get some really good, up-to-date antivirus and spyware software. There are some good free services out there, but don’t balk at paying a little bit of money for really good protection. The majority of internet fraud doesn’t actually occur with the selling company, instead people conduct transactions unaware that they have a virus on their computer already which may be scooping up your information.

Nonetheless, even the best anti-viral software is no 100% perfect, so you do need to make sure that you take other steps. One thing to look for is the secure symbol on your browser, or the web address starting with https rather than http. Secure websites are exactly that, and offer you an extra layer of protection.

Should the worse happen, your options become rather limited. You should report any suspected breaches of security immediately, and immediately freeze or close any accounts that might be affected. Notify your bank, and the credit rating companies to ensure that you don’t experience any negative repercussions in the future, and most importantly of all, be careful.

Image: Grant Cochrane / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It has been announced today that Barclays Bank PLC are to buy the Egg Credit Card portfolio from Citi.

London/New York – Citi today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its entire Egg credit card portfolio to Barclays Bank PLC. The £1.8bn* of gross assets in the Egg portfolio represents 1.15 million customer accounts.

The transaction does not affect Citibank’s retail offering in the UK or any other Egg products which remain with Citi.

The sale demonstrates Citi’s continued success in reducing the assets and businesses within Citi Holdings in an economically rational manner while working to generate long-term profitability and growth from the core businesses within Citicorp. Citi has reduced assets within Citi Holdings by more than $400 billion since the peak in the first quarter of 2008.

Other terms of the sale were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to result in an after-tax gain* to Citi, on a US GAAP basis, which is not expected to be material to Citi’s net income. The transaction is expected to close in Q2 subject to customary conditions.

Citi is committed to working with Barclays on a seamless transfer of the customer accounts, ensuring continuation of the high level of service to which customers are accustomed.

Citi’s UK Capital Markets, Institutional Banking and Global Transaction Services businesses will continue to provide an unparalleled global footprint and services to its clients, including major companies, financial institutions and the public sector, as well as subsidiaries of foreign multinational companies.

Citi’s Institutional Clients Group advised Citi on this transaction.

*All figures reported by Citi are in US GAAP

The mis-selling of loans, (homeowner, car loans and credit card), and the insurance sold alongside them, known as PPI is one of the biggest rip-offs carried out by banks

Around 50% of the 20 million PPI (Payment Protection Insurance) policies sold in the UK were mis-sold. In many cases, people were pressured into buying PPI, being told it was a condition of getting the loan. In others, policies turned out not to be worth the paper they were written on when the time came to claim.

The good news is there is a very high success rate for those making claims against lenders/ banks. Fines of more than £22 million were levied against Lenders, for mis-selling, in 2008. Although customers are able to make independent claims for refunds, most are reluctant to take on these mega-institutions on their own.

This is where First Refunds come in. They are regulated by the Ministry of Justice, which officially enables them to manage claims on behalf of these people. The majority of cases are clear-cut. Where there is any doubt, First Refund have the authority to obtain all data on the sale of the loan / PPI including all recordings of telephone calls made between the lender and customer.

For this service First Refund charge absolutely nothing until the claim is successful, and at this point their fee is 25% of the monies reclaimed. The process takes on average 8 – 12 weeks. Occasionally, when a settlement cannot be reached, a case is referred to the Financial Ombudsman to make a judgement. Although this process can take longer it is usually successful for the claimant (the success rate currently stands at 90%+).

Most of their claims fall under two categories:

1) PPI mis-selling
This is the mis-selling of single premium insurance policies sold alongside car loans, homeowner loans and credit cards, usually taken out to cover the loan premiums should the customer not be able to keep up payments– due to redundancy, illness, etc. There are as many as twelve reasons constitutes mis-selling, with the two most common being

• the customer was pressured into taking it, and
• the term of the PPI is different to the term of the loan.

PPI is considered ‘mis-sold’ if the lender or broker was guilty of just one of the twelve misdemeanours, (a full list is on the web-site www.FirstRefunds.com). PPI refunds are up to 20% of the value of the entire loan.

The sale of PPI is such a scam, that it has now been banned by the FSA.

2) Undeclared Broker Commissions.
Unless the financial broker declares to the borrower exactly how much they received in commission on the sale of a loan, the whole commission is reclaimable under established UK case law. This is further strengthened if the broker also charged a separate broker fee. Millions of broker commissions are undeclared and many of the big banks are making provision to pay back up to 15% of the value of the loans they gave out.

Click the link today to find out more, and to start claiming back monies that you may be entitled to!

As mentioned in a previous post, one way of improving your credit score if you have had a period of bad credit is to get a credit card.

Now, this is easier said than done – especially if your score is still bad. If you are not sure what your credit score is, then check it for free.

Once you have been approved for a card then the quickest way to rebuild your credit rating is to put your petrol or monthly shopping on there, and then pay it off in full at the end of the month before the interest gets added – just make sure you set up a direct debit so you don’t forget, and get landed with a late repayment charge, and lowering your score.

Vanquis Bank’s products serve customers ranging from those who have had credit problems in the past, to those completely new to credit, are self-employed or have a low income.
Their aim is to provide a range of credit cards that give you the options you deserve.

Their Visa card that offers all of these great benefits:

* No annual fee
* Up to 56 days interest free on purchases
* Additional cardholder/ free fraud monitoring at no additional cost – we’ll warn customers of any suspicious activity on their account
* Chip PIN technology for added security whenever a Vanquis card is used
* Visa is widely accepted in the UK and abroad
* Offers convenience for paying online and over the phone
* A friendly and dedicated UK customer call centre
* As a provider that is specifically geared towards servicing customers with previous credit problems or little or no credit history our higher APR’s reflect the additional business risk posed by this area of the consumer market.

Apply for a Vanquis Credit Credit and start to rebuild your credit rating.

Please Note: this does not imply that they are able to approve applications from customers irrespective of their present or previous circumstances. Vanquis have stringent and specific criteria that potential new customers must meet in order to be accepted, as well as applying all relevant money laundering and other regulatory validation tests to any new applications.

For those who haven’t heard of credit ratings before, it is basically a lenders way of deciding how safe it is to give you their money! The lender scores you on a set criteria (which is never published) to see how credit-worthy you are.

It’s based on a number of things such as your borrowing and repayment history, any CCJ’s, any current credit agreements, time at address, and whether you are on the electoral role.

So……..what’s next?

Firstly, I would highly recommend getting a free credit report from Equifax.
I started by getting a free trial, and now I find it worth my while to subscribe to a credit reference service so that I can check my report at any time. It lets me see outstanding credit balances that I have, and also allows me to ensure that no one has set up any borrowing facilities fraudulently in my name.

Once you have looked at your report, then why not purchase their score report, which actually scores you…so you know how likely you are to get accepted for credit.

So how to improve my score:

1) Ensure you are on the electoral roll, and this is reflected in the Equifax report

2) Ensure all of your lenders have your current address

3) If you have any unused credit facilities, such as credit cards which you have paid off the balance, then shut it down. If you have credit available to you then you may be less likely to be approved for future credit.

4) Ensure you do not default on payments. If you have a secured loan then you may find yourself losing your house – which is far worse than just having a bad score!!! Make your monthly payments on time.

5) Be careful who you “get into bed with”! If you decide to set up a joint bank account with your loved one – then ensure they have a good credit rating! Once you set up a current account, or get a mortgage with someone, you then become financially linked. So beware!

6) Don’t apply for lots of finance loans within a short space of time. If you get rejected, then wait a few months before re-applying. This can seriously mess up your score, and happened to me a few years ago.

So, what are you waiting for? Visit Equifax and make the most of their free trial. I found a free trial so helpful in sorting out my finances, spotting errors, and ensuring I maximised my chances of getting the unsecured loan I required to buy my motorbike!

Although it may be overstated, there is a lot of truth to people ruining their credit score due to missing payments and paying their credit card bills late. The fees can pile up and the interest rates can grow before you know it, and after a while you won’t even be able to pay the minimum amount of payment. If you don’t do something fast – it could be the beginning of the end.

To make sure this doesn’t happen to you, you should always pay your bill on time, and always avoid missing a payment. Sometimes, it can be hard to make your payments on time, although you should always do everything in your power to ensure that you stay on top of things. Below, you’ll find some tips to help you with your credit card payments.

As stated above, you should always pay your bill on time. If something comes up and you aren’t able to pay, you’ll be penalized. Even though you may think what has come up will justify a late payment, it doesn’t justify the means in the eyes of your credit card company. Inside of your bill, you’ll find detailed instructions regarding payment. You should always follow them as accurately as possible, pay where and when you are supposed to pay – and do it on time.

If you simply aren’t able to pay your entire bill, you shouldn’t worry about it – but instead pay the minimum amount possible. Even though you may be able to pay more later, you should always pay at least the minimum amount. Then, when you have more money, you can always add to your minimum payment by sending in an additional payment.

The easiest way to do this, is to always have the minimum payment amount set aside, so that you have it once your credit card bill arrives. Once you have assured yourself that you won’t be penalized or charged any late fees, you should look into paying a higher amount than just the minimum balance. By paying the minimum amount, you’ll also ensure that no other fees will be added to your next credit card bill.

Another option includes skip a payment, although you’ll need to check whether or not your credit card company offers it or not. This service will allow you to request a waiver regarding your payment, when something comes up and you don’t have the money to pay your bill. Make sure that you use this service wisely if you have it, as it can only be used once a year. Therefore, you should always ensure that the situation is truly an emergency and there are no other options available for you. This service will normally have a cost as well, and you’ll need to pay it the following month.

Although credit cards can be great for numerous reasons, you should always know your interest rates and have a good general idea of what your bill is going to be before you make a purchase. Many times, those who have credit cards will make purchases, knowing they can’t make the payments – then suffer when they get the bill and aren’t able to pay it.

Anytime you have a credit card, you should always make sure that you have the money to pay the bill, or the minimum amount, the minute it arrives. This way, you’ll remain in good standing with your company and your credit score will continue to increase. If you simply aren’t able to make your payment, you should contact your credit card issuer immediately and see if you can work something out.