Press Release
November 20th, 2006 For Immediate Release CREDIT CARD CHRISTMAS WISH LIST FROM MONEYEXTRA For those who pile on the pounds, and for those who don’t If you are planning to put your Christmas on plastic, now is the time to start planning. Cheap and zero interest deals are disappearing fast. Piling on the pounds on the wrong card could leave you with a hangover well into 2007, says Moneyextra.com. Moneyextra‟s top tips for saving Christmas credit card bills: Switch existing card debts to 0% balance transfer deals – but hurry! Seek out 0% interest on spending deals if you are going to splash out Get a good low interest card if you don‟t pay off every month OR a cashback deal if you clear your bill in full Showing off with shopping in Paris, New York or Rome? Get a fee-free flexible friend to go with you
“Your credit card is not just for Christmas, but with an average spend jumping 22 per cent to around £378 on presents1, it usually gets little rest in the run up to 25th December. If you have not checked out the best deals yet, you only have a few weeks to do it.” says Robin Amlôt, Senior Editor of Moneyextra.com. 0 per cent on balance transfers - get it whilst it lasts This time last year you could not get past the front door for 0% transfer deal junk mail. This year, they are as scarce as happy turkeys. You will have to pay a fee if you want a long „free‟ period. If you are transferring thousands, look for a capped fee. If your debt is in the low hundreds, a competitive life time low percentage interest rate might be better.
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AWD Moneyextra is a trading name of AWD Moneyextra Limited which is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). AWD Moneyextra Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of AWD Group plc, a member of AWD Holding AG, Europe‟s premier independent financial services group. Registered in England No. 3685041. Registered Office: 1 King Street, Manchester, M2 6AW. VAT Registration No. 50337 4571
“But do not, repeat not, use these cards for spending. Use a better deal for spending from now on or better still paying off your debts.” warns Robin Amlôt. Buy now at 0 per cent If you want to spread your Christmas spend, look for a credit card which gives you an interest-free period on purchases. For example, Marks and Spencer's &More credit card offers 0 per cent on new purchases for a full 12 months and also offers loyalty points worth 0.5 per cent of your spend, which can be spent on shopping at M&S. The Sainsbury's Bank Platinum Visa card offers 0 per cent on new purchases for 10 months, while other cards offering nine months' interest-free credit on purchases include those from Halifax, Mint, Nationwide, NatWest, and RBS. Bear in mind that the longer the 0 per cent period, the less competitive the „go-to‟ interest rate tends to be. Low interest – for those who don’t pay off in full If you can't be bothered moving your money around and just sometimes fail to pay your balance off every month, look for a card with the lowest interest rate. Best buys include the Halifax Flat Rate card, which charges 5.9 per cent and Barclaycard Simplicity, which charges a flat rate of 6.8 per cent for purchases and balance transfers. Cashback – for those who pay their bills in full If you always pay your bills each month, consider a cashback card, which will give you a rebate on the amount you spend each time you use it. The American Express Platinum card gives an introductory 3% cashback for the first three months. Its normal rates are 0.5% up to £3,500, 1% between £3,501 and £10,000 and 1.5% for spending of £10,001 and above. Morgan Stanley Platinum Plus promises 3% cashback to1 February 2007 on purchases up to £2,000. The American Express Blue credit card gives you 0.5% cashback on an annual spend up to £3,500 and 1% above that. Egg Money card - not to be confused with the ordinary Egg card - pays 1% cashback on all purchases, guaranteed until 2007, and money off purchases from Egg's retail partners.
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www.moneyextra.com
AWD Moneyextra is a trading name of AWD Moneyextra Limited which is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). AWD Moneyextra Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of AWD Group plc, a member of AWD Holding AG, Europe‟s premier independent financial services group. Registered in England No. 3685041. Registered Office: 1 King Street, Manchester, M2 6AW. VAT Registration No. 50337 4571
Fee-free shopping overseas If you are considering doing some of your Christmas shopping overseas, you may be horrified to see how the cost rises when you take into account the "exchange rate loading" applied by credit card issuers to the currency conversion rate. You can avoid paying this if you have either a Nationwide or Post Office credit card, which don't charge it at all, or, if you‟re going to Europe, a Saga or Liverpool Victoria credit card. For more information about which card is right for you, and for the latest deals, visit http://www.moneyextra.com/cards/ For further information, please contact: Robin Amlôt Senior Editor, Moneyextra Tel: 0870 191 5626 public.relations@moneyextra.com NOTES TO EDITORS
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Source: Deloitte & Touche‟s annual The Retail Review - Christmas Retail Survey 2006
Moneyextra.com is one of the UK‟s longest-established personal finance websites. It has 536,000 unique users and delivers 7.8 million page views every month and has 513,000 registered users. As at 7th November 2006, Moneyextra.com featured: More than 9,000 Mortgages from over 120 providers 131 Loans from 52 providers 207 Credit Cards from 61 providers 1,506 Stocks & Shares ISAs from 65 providers 169 Cash ISAs from 92 providers 121 Current accounts from 27 providers 881 Savings accounts from 152 providers
AWD Moneyextra is a trading name of AWD Moneyextra Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Not all products and services on AWD Moneyextra are regulated by the FSA. 3 of 3
www.moneyextra.com
AWD Moneyextra is a trading name of AWD Moneyextra Limited which is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). AWD Moneyextra Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of AWD Group plc, a member of AWD Holding AG, Europe‟s premier independent financial services group. Registered in England No. 3685041. Registered Office: 1 King Street, Manchester, M2 6AW. VAT Registration No. 50337 4571