Credit Cards Tips for You

When a shopping experience goes wrong – a retailer goes bust or disappears without delivering your goods – it can pay to have paid on plastic. Purchases made on credit cards and debit cards have protections that are not available if you pay with cash. These apply whether the purchases are goods or services.

Photograph: Alan Schein Photography

If you have a problem with a purchase made by credit card or via a credit agreement offered by a retailer, you may be protected under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. This makes the credit provider jointly liable with the retailer for anything you buy, provided the item costs between £100 and £30,000.

The protection covers undelivered and faulty goods, and services such as flights, if the retailer goes out of business or disappears. It ap

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Chase unveiled a revised summary guide for Chase Total Checking that makes its terms and conditions easier to understand for consumers. Chase collaborated with the Pew Health Group’s Safe Checking in the Electronic Age Project to develop a simple disclosure form that uses everyday words in a consumer-friendly format. Consumers can now more plainly see a description of fees and services, how to avoid certain fees, when deposits are available, and the order in which withdrawals and deposits are processed. Chase also is eliminating account closing fees to simplify and enhance the customer experience.

Ever wonder what a credit card thief gets for his troubles? The answer is $3.50.

A European hacker nicknamed Poxxie hacked into the computer network of a US company and stole 1,400 credit card numbers. He then sold them for $3.50 on his own website.

Poxxie sold the numbers to buyers who now trust the quality of his products – AKA stolen card numbers. Ironically, he stated, “The main thing in any business is honesty.” I don’t know about you, but stealing credit card numbers doesn’t seem honest to me!

Sadly, this isn’t the only such case out there – not by a long shot. Other hackers perform similar activities on a routine basis. Credit card theft alone has become a $100 plus billion dollar per year industry. Let’s take a look at some of the stats in the high-stakes business of credit card theft.

Amount of Card Numbers Stolen Annually

It is estimated that thieves steal 8.4 million credit card numbers in the US each year. Many do so on Amazon.com.

Other sites, like Poxxie’s, allow customers to shop by card type, credit limit, bank and zip code. Think of them as

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Companies that provide expensive, short-term loans to desperate borrowers face tougher regulation by the government.

Pressure over the activities of companies providing payday loans led the prime minister’s office to say on Wednesday that a code of practice to protect vulnerable borrowers could be introduced. David Cameron’s spokesman also said that a cap on the often extortionate interest rates had not been ruled out, but indicated that a voluntary code of practice was preferred.

Payday loans are small, unsecured loans to tide people over until their next pay packet. Campaigners argue that their high cost means poor borrowers can be sucked into a cycle of debt.

The prime minister’s spokesman said: “We know there are concerns about these companies and the way they operate. We want to ensure that vulnerable people are properly protected and are working with the industry and consumer organisations to ensure that people have the protections they need.”

Asked if he would consider an interest rate cap, which some campaigners want, he replied: “That is not a new issue. It has been looked at in the past. Clearly it is an issue that we can look at.

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Now you can claim your debit card rewards faster- much, much faster- thanks to the MasterCard “Money On The Go” program. With a Prepaid Debit MasterCard 11 ratio of reward points, with each point worth a very generous $1.00, your points are redeemable towards 80,000 brand name products offered at its on-line reward site, the “Money On The Go Network.” As a member, you earn a one dollar reward point for every dollar loaded onto their Mongo Prepaid MasterCard and can redeem up to 1,000 reward points every month at their on-line rewards mall. But that’s not all! The “Money On The Go” has also included their LeisureXpress and SaversXpress benefits that save members 20-50% off at over 200,000 national recognized retailers. So sign up today!