Ruth Jackson rounds up this week’s personal finance news.
• Liberal Democrat MP David Ward has launched a bid to save the cheque. The banks, led by their own organisation, the Payments Council, are planning to phase them out by 2018. But Ward argues that four million people still pay for something by cheque every day, so the MP for Bradford East wants the decision over the payment method’s future to be taken by a body that is accountable to Parliament – a group who can “balance the needs of consumers with the savings to the banks”.
• Royal Bank of Scotland is the latest bank to make changes to its unauthorised overdraft charges. Until now, if you have gone beyond your overdraft or into the red without having an overdraft, you would have been hit with a £20 monthly charge, a £15 fine every time the bank made a payment on your behalf and a 20% interest rate. This is all being scrapped in favour of a £6 daily fee. At first glance that might seem a better deal. But it probably isn’t. End up going overdrawn for a week, for example, and it’ll cost you £42.
• One in five people use their birthday as their personal identification number (Pin) for their plastic cards, according to a survey of 1,576 people by MyVoucherCodes.co.uk. A further 13% keep their Pin written down somewhere in their wallet. It should go without saying that this is not a good idea. “It’s not rocket science; having your Pin written somewhere in your purse or wallet, right next to your credit or debit card, is asking for trouble,” says Farhad Farhadi of MyVoucherCodes.
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• Utility group Scottish & Southern Energy has announced that gas prices for its customers will rise by an average of 9.4% on 1 December. The news is expected to lead to the rest of the ‘Big Six’ energy providers raising their own prices too. Protect yourself from the worst of the price rises by cutting your bills now. Switch to an ‘online billed’ deal and you could save around £300 a year, says MoneySavingExpert.com.
• If you are planning a trip to America, get on to the American Airlines website now. The airline’s winter sale runs until 9 November. Deals include return flights to New York for £308 and Miami for £368. Act fast, though, as the best deals will rapidly get booked up. If you do miss out on the best deals, check SkyScanner.net to find the lowest price available for your travel dates.
• High-street chemist chain Boots has announced a dramatic extension to its Advantage loyalty card scheme. At the moment customers who have an Advantage card can collect four points for every pound they spend in store or on the Boots website. But the firm is now launching Treat Street, which will allow customers to earn points while shopping in other retailers. You just buy items from any of the 50 retailers enrolled in the scheme – these include Topshop, Apple, and Clarks – via the Treat Street section of the Boots website.
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