Personal Finance and Investing

If you don’t have a high enough credit score to bag a market-leading card, could the Barclaycard Initial be right for you? Although there are many well-publicised credit cards offering great rates and interest-free periods for new customers, these deals are often reserved for that privileged group with an untarnished credit history.

In fact, some people don’t qualify for the top deals because they haven’t used enough credit products in the past and have no history.

So what can you do if you want to use a card and build your credit score? Well, this week we are reviewing the Barclaycard Initial, which is aimed at those people who don’t qualify for the market-leading deals.

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So you want to be wealthy, but have no idea on how to start? I’m going to let you on a little secret. Building wealth is not rocket science, it requires discipline and resources. Start by setting a realistic financial goal.

It is common for individuals believe that it takes large sums of money to become wealthy, so they make excuses about if i had a lot of money I would do this and that. Well guess what, if you lack discipline you will be back right where you started. The first mistake individuals make is bigger paycheck equals upgrade. Well, here is a newsflash, if you continue at that pace you will never have a buffer/comfort zone and one mistake could put you in a serious financial hole. T

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Consumers have been dealt a huge blow today in the ongoing battle to reclaim bank charges. The Supreme Court has overturned two earlier court rulings and said that the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) cannot investigate unauthorised overdraft charges under consumer protection rules which govern fairness.

The court battle between the OFT and eight banks and building societies has been running since July 2007. Read our article from February ‘Are bank refund charges finally on their way?’ for a breakdown of the history of the case.

Kevin Mountford, moneysupermarket.com’s head of banking was at the Supreme Court for the hearing.

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The U.S. Federal Reserve issued a report that indicated U.S. consumer credit fell for the month of September. This makes the eighth consecutive month of consumer credit declines. It would be good to know the debt is falling due to better money management but for many the falling debt is a reaction to unemployment and tight credit markets.

In fact, consumers who have had virtually no change in their financial status during the recession are unable to borrow money unless they have near-perfect credit. In addition, banks are reducing credit card lines and those actions are leading to falling debt levels.

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