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By Justin Schamotta
Staff Writer
23 October 2009
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Money News Roundup
If you only do one thing with your money this week...
Read Justin Schamotta's guide to making your plastic work harder. For all you need to know on cash back schemes, stoozing and credit card tarting.
Previous Money News Roundups
See our other recent Money News Roundups and other related news stories:
Money News Roundup (16th Oct 09)
A glance back at this week's personal finance news Natwest and HSBC restrict credit card applications, freshers hit by late arrival of loans, credit card fraud falls by 23% and Barclaycard's website goes offline again.
Money News Roundup (9th Oct 09)
A glance back at this week's personal finance news: households hoard their savings, the black market in credit card details, an extra £3000 for over 50s' Isas and card holders closer to compensation for PPI mis-selling .
Money News Roundup (2nd Oct 09)
A glance back at this week's personal finance news: Prime Minister loses patience with banks, secret power price hikes exposed, freshers face up to decades of debt and credit card companies invert order of payments.
Money News Roundup (11th Sep 09)
A glance back at this week's personal finance news HSBC starts a mortgage fight, the FSA clamps down on bankers' bonuses and are balance transfer deals becoming a thing of the past?
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BAILED out banks offering the worst deals, number of houses without current accounts halved, banks required to prove guilt in card fraud cases and Barclays wins PPI appeal in this week's money news roundup.
Bailed out Banks Offering Worst Deals
TRADITIONAL high-street banks bailed out with taxpayer's money are offering the worst credit card deals, a survey has disclosed.
The research, conducted by consumer campaigners Which?, found that one in eight members had either their interest rate or the card's terms and conditions changed, while a quarter of credit card holders have had their credit limit increased without them asking.
Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB are among the worse offenders.
Number of houses without Current Accounts Halved
THE number of adults living in households with no access to a bank account has been more than halved - a goal that was first set five years ago by the Government and the UK's banks.
The shared target was agreed in December 2004 to ensure that everyone in the UK has access to appropriate financial services.
The latest report on access to banking by the Financial Inclusion Taskforce shows that the number has fallen from two million in 2003/04 to fewer than 900,000 in 2007/08.
"This is extremely good news and it means that many more people can now use transactional banking to make and receive payments as well as holding their money in a secure and accessible way," said Brian Pomeroy, chair of the Financial Inclusion Taskforce.
Innocent Until Proven Guilty on Card Fraud
BANK customers who are the victim of fraudulent transactions are to get their money back without having to prove to their bank that they did not authorise the payments.
Instead, under a new regulatory regime due to come into force next month, they will be entitled to instant reimbursement unless the bank can show that the transaction should stand.
"At the moment, if a person spots a suspicious transaction on their account, they are responsible for proving it is not their transaction," the FSA said. "From November the burden of proof will change to the banks - the banks will have to prove that the payment was authorised by the customer, or immediately refund the money."
The change applies to all bank transactions except paper-based ones such as cheques, and also covers credit card transactions. Customers will be allowed more than a year to query payments.
Barclays wins PPI Appeal
BARCLAYS scored a victory this week in its long battle with the Competition Commission over the sale of "rip-off" payment protection insurance after an appeals tribunal overturned a ruling banning banks selling the insurance at the same time as a loan or credit card.
The ruling will come as a severe blow to the Competition Commission which wanted a seven-day breathing space imposed before banks could contact customers about purchasing cover for their loan payments.
It argued that customers came under intense pressure from sales staff to buy the cover when they agreed a loan. It said research showed that industry guidelines had failed to eradicate mis-selling and only a ban on sales of the insurance as an add-on product would be sufficient.
Barclays said: "We are pleased that the tribunal has ordered the point of sale ban to be reviewed. The commission will now have to reconsider this remedy.".
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