An ePetition was recently launched by Martin Lewis Money Saving Experts Website to bring financial education into schools. The petition caused a lot of debate amongst lots of people, as some believe that debt occurs because of lack of knowledge, while others believe it is due to unforeseen events such as illness, redundancy or an addition to the family.

Whatever your reason for debt, it is always important for you to have an understanding about the charges that are applied to your credit cards and loans.

If you have taken out a loan you will know that you signed an agreement prior to it outlining the amount you are borrowing, the interest percentage that will be charged and the total amount that you will pay back as well as detailing your repayment amount and period. This agreement is known as a Consumer Credit Agreement and is required under the Consumer Credit Act.

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The fees charged to merchants for accepting credit card purchases may soon be limited in one state, which might be good news for consumers and small businesses alike.

New Hampshire lawmakers are currently considering a bill that would limit what banks can charge for processing credit card purchases to just 1 percent of a transactions value, according to a report from the Nashua Telegraph. Currently, merchants pay an average of about 1.75 percent of a purchase price but fees range anywhere from 0.67 percent to 4.76 percent, a price the merchant typically doesnt learn until after theyve been charged by banks.

This limit would be applied in addition to the new federal cap on debit swipe fees for major banks, the report said. Read more…

Due to losses in banking activities across the board, and in credit cards specifically, banks have been tightening lending standards, lowering credit limits, and raising fees wherever they can. Other factors for credit card issuers are the enactment of The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act (aka the Credit CARD Act) and the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency which is mandated to oversee the CARD Act. The Credit Card Act, which starts phasing in provisions in August, was pushed through Congress by the Obama Administration and signed into law in May. The law’s goal is to reign in fee and interest rate increases by credit card issuers but is full of loopholes and has given the issuers enough advance notice to allow them to raise rates, convert fixed accounts to variables, and hike fees ahead of any limitations which would curb the activities.

In reaction to the bill, issuers have promised to tighten lending standards and make it tougher in general for their cardholders. O

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Everyone needs to pay taxes, but the problem is that no one has enough time to sit through and the entire process of calculating the amount of tax return and find out how much they have to pay. So what people do in such a scenario is rush to their CPA’s office to get their tax returns calculated. Now it is the accountant firms and the CPAs, which bear the brunt of all these accounting and calculating work. So an innovative and profitable option out of this problem for them is to go for tax return outsourcing. Well who would not like to undertake a business strategy like tax return outsourcing, which would be financially profitable and beneficial for his business?

Tax return is nothing but calculating the amount of money which an individual or a business will have to pay to the government as taxes annually. Anyone who has an ie is liable to pay taxes to the government or he can land in trouble. So having all your tax return calculated well in advance is surely going to help you out in being stress free as soon as possible. O

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The roll-out of new technology in McDonald’s in the UK has led to a surge in contactless payments for fast food, with a third of cardholders using the system to pay for food in the last three months of 2011. This compares to 12% the previous quarter, according to figures collated by Visa.

The contactless system allows customers to scan their credit card over a special terminal (like that used for Oyster on London Underground) to make payments up to £15. The aim is to reduce the time it takes to pay, shortening queues in popular retailers.

But although contactless payments have now been available in the UK for two years, and there are 17m cards and 75,000 terminals, Visa admits a low acceptance level by retailers is still preventing usage from becoming an every-day habit.

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