Loans & Credit

Need cash? Bypass the banks entirely and find your lender on a social website

Peer-to-peer lending is growing in popularity and offers competitive rates. Chiara Cavaglieri and Julian Knight report.

Inside Loans & Credit

Debit cards more popular than cash

Friday, 3 December 2010

Debit cards have overtaken cash to become the UK's most popular payment method for the first time, figures showed yesterday. On 30 August the amount of money people had spent on debit cards since the beginning of the year overtook the value of transactions paid for in cash for the first time at £272bn-, compared with £269bn for cash, according to the Payments Council.

The ten best credit card perks

Monday, 29 November 2010

From European flights to high street vouchers, cashback to insurance bonuses, this selection proves that it pays to play your cards right.Click on the image on the right to launch the gallery

Money insider: Nationwide takes notice of savers’ unrest

Saturday, 27 November 2010

It's not just poor rates of interest that upset savers in this country: complex products, interest rate mismatches between ISA and non-ISA accounts, and accounts exclusively for new customers all appear high on the list of consumer gripes.

Bankers are still charging ahead with bully-boy tactics

Saturday, 27 November 2010

The sometimes ineffectual Office of Fair Trading (OFT) acted for good this week. It cracked down on the despicable practice of charging orders.

Life on the front line of Britain's debt

Sunday, 21 November 2010

Business has been booming for the Consumer Credit Counselling Service. Julian Knight meets the charity's founder

Five Questions About: The best credit card for Christmas

Saturday, 13 November 2010

Spotlight On: MBNA's Balance Transfer credit card

Saturday, 13 November 2010

Cold calls cost CPN its consumer credit licence

Sunday, 7 November 2010

A debt-management company, Compensation Professionals Network, has been stripped of its consumer credit licence for making illegal cold calls.

Simon Read: The battle to beat legal loan sharks hits Westminster

Saturday, 6 November 2010

The battle against legal loan sharks hit Westminster this week when the Labour MP Stella Creasy's Consumer Credit Bill got the nod for a second reading next February. More excitingly, Stella has secured a debate on the Bill next Tuesday in Westminster Hall, where the Government will have to respond to her proposals.