Are your personal details at risk when you use social networking sites?
February 29, 2008
Over recent years many consumers have started to make new friends and socialise with existing friends via social networking sites, such as myspace and Facebook. These sites have been increasing in popularity, with many people creating their profiles online, and chatting to both existing and new friends openly. However, what may sound like harmless fun has now been highlighted as a potential hazard that could put consumers at risk of becoming the victims of fraud and identity theft – and even burglary – according to some officials. Read more
MPC member states falling house prices pose threat to economy
February 29, 2008
A member of the Monetary Policy Committee, Kate Barker, recently stated that falling house prices coupled with decreased lending levels posed a significant threat to the UK’s economy over the short term. She said that the Monetary Policy Committee would be looking carefully at financial and property markets when it came to setting interest rates, but also added that it would be difficult to justify cutting rates when concerns over inflation were so high. Read more
Investigation into energy firms begins
February 29, 2008
An investigation into whether there are competition issues amongst the UK’s major energy suppliers has now been launched by the energy regulator Ofgem. The regulator is looking into the gas and electricity markets that supply to both residential properties and to small businesses. This comes after concerns were raised by watchdogs and campaigners over how effective the market is and how much consumers and businesses are having to pay for their energy. Read more
Savers may want to steer clear of Northern Rock
February 28, 2008
Industry experts are warning that consumers that are thinking of transferring their savings to Northern Rock may want to consider the likelihood that interest rates on savings may go down following the bank’s nationalisation, which has now gone through.
Government officials stated that the nationalisation of the bank meant that it was safe for consumers to start giving their business to the stricken bank, but other officials state that the move may result in savings interest rate being cut, leaving savers receiving a lower return on their savings.
One industry official stated: ‘Northern Rock certainly has some attraction for savers, who may be drawn to it given the increased safety it offers over other banks, but when it is nationalised, it may decide to start to reduce these rates.’
She added: ‘You have to ask: what are they going to do with the money coming in? High interest rates are what banks use to bring customers in so they can use the money to finance their loan books, especially now as they are finding it hard to get the money elsewhere because of the credit crunch. But what if you don’t have a loan business? You don’t need that extra custom.’
With interest rates already having fallen twice in the past three months and set to fall further over the course of the year a number of other lenders have already announced cuts in their savings interest rates. Egg has upset customers further by slashing its savings interest rate by 0.5% despite the base rate cut only coming to 0.25%. One banks, Icelandic newcomer Kaupthing Edge, has decided to keep its interest rate at 6.5% for savers, and this is likely to attract a lot of attentions from savers looking to get good returns on their money.
Further anger over energy firms’ profits
February 28, 2008
Just days after British Gas delivered its customers with a slap in the face, announcing that profits had increased five fold since last year, whilst consumers were struggling to pay rising energy bills, another energy giant Npower has also delivered news of soaring profits, leaving even more customers seething over the fact that whilst they are risking being pushed into fuel poverty the energy firm bosses are sitting pretty with huge bonuses on the way. Read more
Facebook members could be compromising their safety
February 27, 2008
According to a recent report from the consumer campaign group Which? consumers who have memberships on social networking sites such as Facebook could be compromising their safety and identity security. Many people have started to join up to social networking sites over the past couple of years, but Which? officials state that this could result in identity theft, fraud, and even an increased risk of burglary in some cases, as fraudsters and thieves can find out so many details through using these websites. Read more
MP worried over bank cards
February 27, 2008
An MP has expressed concerns over how some banks are treating their credit cards customers, claiming that some of these banks may be cancelling the credit cards of customers with good credit and who repay their balances responsibly, and are instead handing out cards to those with bad credit in order to try and make more money. Read more
Why keeping your credit clean is more important than ever
February 26, 2008
Over recent years most of us have learned how important it is to keep our credit files and ratings in check. More and more of us have become reliant on finance to fund certain purchases, and this has meant trying to keep our credit clean so that we do not struggle to get finance. In the past, those with damaged credit have sometimes struggled to get credit, particularly unsecured finance such as credit cards and unsecured loans. In fact having bad credit has made many people’s financial futures very difficult. Read more
Could other banks end up in public ownership?
February 25, 2008
Some industry official are expressing concern that other banks, building societies, and financial institutions could end up under public ownership in the same way as Northern Rock, stating that the Bill that was recently rushed through parliament to enable the ailing bank Northern Rock to be nationalised is actually a generalised bill and could actually apply to any financial institution that takes deposits. Read more
British Gas reports huge profits
February 24, 2008
Over recent weeks cash-strapped consumers in the UK have been hit even harder after the major energy suppliers in the UK decided to increase their prices on gas and electricity usage, stating that the rise was necessary because of increases in the cost of wholesale energy. Average households are now paying around £1000 a year for their energy usage, and many are in danger of being pushed into fuel poverty as a result of these price hikes. The new about rising energy costs came at around the same time as the interest rate cut in December. Read more