Monday 23rd April 2007
Credit card balance transfers may be a solution to high-interest store cards, it has been suggested.
According to Halifax, nine-month introductory offers on credit card balance transfers may result in an average yearly saving on interest costs of £10.12 on domestic appliances and £24.01 on furniture.
Ken Stannard, head of credit cards at the financial services provider, said: "We all love filling our homes with creature comforts but this shouldnt leave you with empty pockets or paying high interest for months afterwards."
Consumers looking to safeguard their spending with payment protection insurance (PPI) may welcome the news that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) is continuing its efforts to create more transparency in the industry.
PPI generally protects a borrower against events, such as illness or unexpected redundancy, which would otherwise prevent them from being able to meet payments on a store card.
However, in January the FSA fined GE Capital Bank, the company which provides the credit facilities for many store cards, over claims that its PPI policies had been mis-sold.
Speaking at the time, FSA director of enforcement Margaret Cole said: "Millions of people take out store cards every year.
"They need to know that PPI is almost always optional and should consider whether they need it before signing up."
FSA spokesperson Robin Gordon-Walker recently revealed that there has been progress since January, adding that "things have improved to a certain extent".
Malcolm Tarling of the Association of British Insurers echoed the claims, stating that the industry has been working towards an improvement in the sale of PPI for the past 18 months.
He suggested that the PPI provider should take responsibility for helping a customer to decide whether or not they need to take out a policy.
"It may be that insurance is the best for them, it may not," Mr Tarling advised.
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