Good news in the credit card arena. The Virgin Credit Card Exclusive charges no interest on purchases or balance transfers for 12 months.
They offer a 12-month 0% period on both purchases and balance transfers. Still, there is a 2.98% transfer fee if you want to move a debt over from another card. It will be added to your balance.
Try to clear your balance during the 0% period because when it ends the standard annual rate of interest will apply, which is 18.9% on purchases and 21.9% on a transferred balance.
You will also receive discounts on other Virgin products.
The 0% offer on balance transfers only applies if you transfer a debt over from another card within 60 days of your account being opened.
It’s also important to note that MBNA actually provides Virgin’s credit cards and you can’t make a balance transfer if you are looking to move a debt over from another MBNA card.
Finally, avoid using the card to withdraw money from an ATM. There is no interest-free period on cash withdrawals.
If you are looking for a new credit card, the Virgin Credit Card Exclusive is a winner.

©2012 MoneyBlog. All Rights Reserved.

The better your credit, the better competitive rate you will get on a loan.
The details in your credit file can be accessed by lenders when you apply for a loan. It shows them information about your financial history, for example your record of paying on time, your total debt, whether you’ve been bankrupt.
Here are a few tips for improving your credit score.
If you have never used credit, then your file will be empty and potential lenders won’t be able to work out whether you are safe to lend to or not. This affects your chances for any kind of credit, including a mortgage loan or even a mobile phone contract. Therefore, you need to work at building a credit history. A good way to do that is to get a credit card. You cannot qualify for any of the best credit card deals without credit, but some of the products are aimed at those with little or no credit history. The interest rate will be high, so you should pay your balance in full every month to show you can manage credit responsibly.
Many lenders will check to see if you are on the electoral role at the address you provide to avoid identity fraud. If you are not registered to vote from that address, you’ll find it harder to get credit.
Make sure your file shows that any Country Court Judgments have been settled and ask the court to inform the credit agencies. Outstanding CCJs can badly affect your credit score.

©2012 MoneyBlog. All Rights Reserved.

It’s more important than ever to know your credit score, but why is this the case and how do you find out what information is held about you on your credit file?

Lenders are making life difficult for those who wish to obtain credit and even those who think they have a perfect history are finding themselves being turned away for products they would have been a shoe-in for a couple of years ago.
It’s therefore well worth obtaining a copy of your credit file before you apply for a mortgage, loan or credit card and you can apply for yours through moneysupermarket.com’s new credit checking channel.

But what should you look for when you’ve got your credit file? What exactly is a good credit history? And what do providers look out for when deciding whether or not you are worthy of their credit?

Read on to find out.

What do lenders look for?
Mortgage, loan and credit card providers have a ’score’ card which they use to evaluate credit applications. They give or take away points from you depending on the information that is on your credit file. Each lender’s score card is different although the main factors they look out for, and will reward you points on, is your current credit conduct, whether or not you appear on the Electoral Roll and how long you have been in continuous employment.

What information is held about you?
When you receive your credit file, the following information will appear on it:

Electoral Roll information – the date your name was entered onto the electoral register at your current address shows here, it will also show the dates that you were on the Electoral Roll at previous addresses. Lenders will use this information as proof that you live where you say you live.

Financial associates and aliases – you will find here any names that you have previously been known as and also anyone that you are tied to financially. For example, if you hold a joint bank account with a partner, then this information will appear as well as basic details of the other person’s whose name the account is in.

Public record information – here you will find details of any County Court Judgements (CCJs), Involuntary Arrangements (IVAs) and bankruptcies. It will show the date that the information was registered and, if applicable, when the arrangement or CCJ was satisfied, in the case of a bankruptcy, it will show when this was discharged.

©2012 MoneyBlog. All Rights Reserved.

The credit card market has been very busy launching new products and changing existing deals.
There are really some great deals, so this is good news for consumers. One good deal is the Barclaycard Platinum.
Barclaycard Platinum isn’t a new product but the interest-free period on balance transfers has been lengthened. New customers will qualify for a 15-month interest-free period on balance transfers, just one month less than Virgin’s market-leading offer. Previously the 0% balance transfer period on the Barclaycard Platinum ended on February 1 2011.
There is also a three-month, interest-free period on purchases.
Once the 0% offers end customers will be charged a standard annual percentage rate of 15.9%. The APR for cash withdrawals is higher at 27.9% and there is a 2.5% withdrawal fee.
Even though the length of the 0% period on balance transfers is an improvement on Barclaycard’s previous offering, it’s not all good news as it has tweaked other features of the Platinum deal and made them slightly less attractive.
The fee for transferring a balance on to the card has gone up from 2.5% to 2.9%, which will cost you an extra £8 on a £2,000 transfer.

©2012 MoneyBlog. All Rights Reserved.

Reviewing your finances could probably save you hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds and the New Year is a good time to do it. If you feel daunted by this task, don’t worry. Below is a check list to help you get started.

Slash your heating bills.

This one is easy, but many people just don’t do it. If you are paying your gas and electricity provider’s standard rates, you could cut your bills by an average of £325 a year. The major suppliers have launched cheaper tariffs recently, so even if you have switched before, you might be able to get further savings by switching again. Check for the best value deal for your usage. It only takes a few minutes and you can do this online.

Cut your insurance costs.

Staying with the same insurer year after year is easy and generally your car and home insurance is automatically renewed. However, it’s worth the time to shop around and get new quotes. You could save an average of £180 on your annual car insurance policy and £122 on home insurance. Remember when checking costs to also compare the level of coverage as well.

Make your savings work harder.

Check the rate you are getting on your savings. You might be able to beat that rate by moving your savings. Right now, the Bank of England base rate is at a historic low and you do want the highest return for your money.

ISA

If you have not yet used your ISA allowance, make sure to take advantage of this before the end of the tax year on April 5th as returns are tax-free. People over the age of 50 on or before April 5th, can invest up to £10,200 in an ISA – £5,100 which can be put in a cash ISA. People under the age of 50 can shelter up to £7,200, £3,600 which can be put in a cash ISA.

Fixed rate bonds.

Consider a fixed rate bond if you have extra money you can leave untouched for a few years. The rates are higher than those on easy access accounts.

Easy access.

Easy access accounts are paying significantly more than the 0.5% base rate.

Cut the cost of credit.

It is more difficult to get credit these days because of the credit crunch and generally also more expensive to borrow this way. However, there are still some deals out there if you have a good credit history, so you can still save a huge amount in interest by moving to a more competitive company.

©2012 MoneyBlog. All Rights Reserved.

Not all appears to be doom and gloom in the recession this week as Halifax have revealed that the cost of running the average house fell from ?8,766 in 2007/8 to only ?7,298 this year. However, although the average went down, not everyone is better off. Only those who own their homes and receive a variable or tracker mortgage were affected, as the falls are directly related to income rates. If you?re a tenant or unfortunate enough not be on a fixed rate mortgage deal, you?ll have seen the cost of running a house rise rather than fall.

This is because despite cheaper mortgage prices, just about everything else has increased in cost. Energy now costs a massive 13% more, water 5% and council tax and other domestic rates have risen by 3%. Even with these rises though, the massive 47% saving on variable deals still meant that costs were down on interest repayments thanks to continued cuts by the Bank of England.

Halifax economist Suren Thiru said: “Such a sizeable drop in the costs of running a home will help to ease the pressure on household disposable income, providing some welcome relief to homeowners. Those living in London saw the biggest fall in housing costs over the past year, although the average annual expense of running a home in the capital remains higher than elsewhere.”

This follows other news this week that retail sales are climbing once again, and that the Council of Mortgage lenders expect to see a 10,000 house reduction in the number of houses being repossessed.

However, Chris Tapp director of Credit Action, a UK debt charity stated: “For a lot of people, things are still very tight and for significant numbers, life has become more, not less expensive. For those who don?t have mortgages, as well as borrowers on relatively high fixed rates or SVRs, this does not mean an awful lot, and it doesn’t take account of higher pressure on incomes from pay cuts or unemployment.”

©2012 MoneyBlog. All Rights Reserved.