Finance Guide

Tesco completed research regarding credit card use for the summer.  They found of the 54 percent of people surveyed that they would be spending less on food and drink than in their last trip.  The survey also showed that these people interviewed were not going to use their credit cards when travelling abroad.  About one in seven travellers stated they would be on a budget of 100 pounds per person per week or less.  Women in this research study were found to be stricter for a holiday budget over men.

The recession that has hit the world is partly to blame for these acts of downgrading the spending consumers will do.  Consumers feel they must keep their holidays abroad at the same amount that they spend going out at home.  Several of the individuals travelling stated they would most likely stay at a place that is all inclusive or they would at least have a continental breakfast as part of their hotel stay.  Others would be bringing along foods that will travel well in their suitcases to cut down on costs. Apacs showed that 20 billion pounds on debit and credit cards was spent abroad in the last year.

For this year they expect this number to lower at least two billion.  Experts discussing credit card spending believe that many of those who have suffered from high credit card debt and high interest rates would rather not get their credit cards to an unmanageable height again even for a holiday. That said there are still a portion of people out there who are getting 0 credit cards to pay for holidays. Holidays are no longer being cancelled as they were last year.  More people are beginning to travel abroad, but this is partly due to the great deals on the internet and through travel companies.  They feel even if they have to use a credit card the debt can be paid off.

Labour is a credit card company, who says they want banks to offer “uncompetitive” rates to party members, and not cut rates despite the recent changes by the Bank of England.  Labour’s credit card has an interest of 18.9 percent now on purchases and a 23.9 percent cash withdrawal rate.  Customers have found this interest rate is the highest rate in the market at the moment, even higher than charity cards being offered.

Gordon Brown has been fighting with banks to make their lending practices better for the customer.  He says too many banks are charging high interest rates when they should not be.  Many of the High Street Banks have not followed the 1 percent cut rates that occurred back in December.  These unfair practices by most banks and Labour are definitely stirring up the customer base.

Take the 0% credit cards available in the market today. This time a year ago there were three times as many and the cards that do exist do not give nearly such long balance transfer deals as they did a year ago. The only exception is the Virgin credit card.

The interest rate is at 2 percent, the lowest it has been in 50 years.  Labour and other credit card companies should be passing on this savings to their consumers.  It is still amazing though that 15,000 people have still signed up for one of Labour’s cards.  When a person takes out the credit card Labour gets a 15 pound donation, and the party receives more donations as the card is used.  The card has already managed to raise 1 million pounds, but at a rate of 18.9 percent customers soon find themselves in turmoil.

The cheapest credit card rate on the market right now is 9.9 percent, which is offered through the Co-Operative Bank just like the Labour cards.  The Lib Dem credit card has the same standard rate of interest, but they don’t have near the members.  It seems that Labour is taking more than just the opportunity to make donations, but they see nothing wrong with their practices, and don’t believe they encourage irresponsible spending. Still you see such offers as instant decision credit cards. They should spend less effort on telling us how long it takes to get accepted and more time lowering the cost of the cards.