Debit card spending has outstripped cash spending for the first time, new figures have revealed.
The new figures from APACS, the UK payments association, showed that debit cards accounted for 37% of all retail spend in 2005, ahead of cash at 34%.
The use of debit cards increased by 9% since last year, according to the figures […]

Scottish rental yields have risen in the first quarter, but in other parts of the country the returns are down, research has found.
The figures from Landlord Mortgages showed Scotland, bucked the trend with a yield increase from 6.27% in the last three months of 2005 to 6.58% in the first quarter of 2006.
Yet quarterly rental […]

As Britain’s personal debt problem increases by £1m every four minutes, organisations are beginning to address the issue of financial education. Pauline McCallion finds out more

Credit and debit card fees are pushing up high street prices by about 2.5%, the European Commission has claimed. But what can be done to bring the charges down? asks Andrew Partridge.
The EU Competition Commission has called for action to tackle credit and debit card fees, after it said the companies’ charges were pushing […]

The proliferation of different types of train fare is leading to confusion amongst passengers and has caused a situation where poor value is offered, according to consumer watchdog Passenger Focus (formerly the Rail Passengers Council).
Twenty years ago there were only five different types of fare but now there are over 70, a number that some […]

Group sales rose 3% at fashion house Burberrys in the second half of the year, helped by increased turnover in Europe and East Asia.
Retail sales were up 13% in the six months to April and these offset a decline in its wholesale operations. Retail accounted for 43% of group revenue last year.
”Consumers’ favourable response to […]

Credit card and debit card fees increase prices by up to 2.5% in some parts of the EU, according to a report from the European Commission (EC).
Some cardholders pay up to double in annual fees for a Visa or Mastercard depending on where they live, and the fee the banks levy on transactions varies widely […]

The number of people out of work in the UK rose by 30,000 to 1.56 million between December and February, putting the jobless rate at an above-expected 5.1%.
The figures from the Office of National Statistics also showed that number of people out of work and claiming benefits rose by 12,600 in March to 937,600, putting […]