MANY employees spent the whole of January earning the money to service the interest on their credit card debt, says IFA Promotion which represents around 9,000 firms of independent financial advisors.
IFAP calculates that to clear the £2,012 interest on the average person's credit card and loan debt, it took somebody earning the average UK wage of £23,556 all of January to cover that interest, without repaying the actual debt.
To help consumers take more effective control of their spending habits, the IFAP website - www.unbiased.co.uk - shows how to make money go further,and details local IFAs ready to tackle the problem. Alternatively call the IFAP hotline on 0800 085 3250.
BIRMINGHAM Midshires has upped the rate on its Direct Savings Account to a competitive 5.50% gross and is cock-a-hoop that this is 0.75% ahead of ING's Direct Savings Account.
BM has guaranteed to stay at least 0.25% ahead of ING, but poor ING has yet to make amove of any sort in response to the latest rate rise. Birmingham Midshires Investment Hotline: 0845 602 2828 or www.askbm.com
BANKING giant HSBC is upping the interest paid on its popular Online Saver to 5.75%, with the minimum opening balance cut from £500 to £1. There is no requirement to make regular deposits and a maximum balance of £50,000 leaves customers free to save at apace which suits them.
HSBC customers will also benefit from the launch of anew Regular Saver paying 10% available to Bank Account Plus, Premier and Passport customers from February 5.
The bank is also offering 6% interest on balances up to £2,500 fixed for ayear to new Bank Account Plus2 customers opening accounts before April 1.
LATEST big-name entrant to the highly competitive personal loans sector is Asda, which offers sums of £500-£2,500 with a low life-long rate from just 5.9%. There are no up-front fees, an immediate decision from the lender,and an option of paying nothing for the first three months.
Asda reckons its customers could save £200-£600 which would be taken on similar-sized loans with rival high street lenders, including Tesco.
