Fancy a free Fortnum & Mason hamper - just for using your bank card? That is a reward from Coutts for millionaires using its Silk charge card, but you do not have to belong to the Queen's bank to enjoy rewards from your plastic. Banks and building societies are increasingly using either cashback or redeemable points to attract customers. Lorraine Poyser pays her credit card bill in full every month to benefit.
Get into a bit of easy debt and pay it off: How to avoid the fate of Kirstie Allsopp's mother-in-law and beef up a 'thin' credit file
When it comes to your credit rating, it doesn't pay to think thin, say consumer credit reporting agency Equifax. The pitfalls of having a thin credit file hit the headlines recently with news that Kirstie Allsopp's mother-in-law family was turned down for a mobile phone contract because she didn't have a credit rating. Equifax explain how consumers can improve their credit history. ...read
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Sainsbury's launches new low-rate £35,000 loan at 6.9%
Homeowners thinking of extending or buyers considering a new luxury car have been handed a new borrowing option after Sainsbury's launched personal loans up to £35,000 with a 6.9 per cent rate. Previously only Barclays banking customers could get their hands on a personal loan over £25,000.
DEALING WITH DEBT: LATEST NEWS
Calls for payday lenders to offer more debt advice as industry reveals a third of people it declines turn to loan sharks
The payday industry launched an attack against new regulation from the consumer watchdog today, claiming that stricter lending rules have actually been detrimental to many households. But debt advice charity Citizens Advice hit back today saying that encouraging cash-strapped borrowers to take out high-interest loans is not the answer to their financial problems. ...read
DEALING WITH DEBT: ESSENTIAL TIPS AND ADVICE
Provider | Cashback |
RBS | to 10% | |
Amex Platinum | to 5% | |
Santander 123 | to 3% | |
Lloyds | to 2% | |
Nationwide | 0.5% |
Latest from Cards & loans
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ANSWERS FROM THE Experts
- Estranged bankrupt son forced his gran to buy four iPhone contracts - and O2 wants her to keep two at cost of £100 a month...
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- My husband was charged £1.85 to withdraw cash - are these machines still legal?
- Money Morals: My 22-year-old son's living at home because he can't afford to move out but he's just booked a holiday to Spain. Can I tell him he can't go?
- My mum is not in my stepfather's will and he's left the house to his kids - can we challenge the inheritance after he dies?
- ASK TONY: My mobile was stolen and by the time I reported it £1,130 worth of calls had been made - is Vodafone's £200 bill fair?
- Is it true that I cannot cash in my pension yet because the freedoms could be reversed after the election?
- TONY HETHERINGTON: Half my money vanished in a murky tangle of 'binary options'
Provider | Cashback |
RBS | to 10% | |
Amex Platinum | to 5% | |
Santander 123 | to 3% | |
Lloyds | to 2% | |
Nationwide | 0.5% |
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