Archive for December, 2011
Rail ticket prices bust the inflation barrier
A planned 8% rise was derailed but many commuters will still feel the pain. Miles Brignall looks at how to save With train fares rising by an average of 5.9% on Monday 2 January, when few of us have had a pay rise, there’s probably never been a better time to take a proper look [...]
Ryanair defiant over credit card surcharges crackdown
Ryanair says the £6 charge per passenger per one-way flight relates to costs associated with its booking system, and isn’t a payments surcharge Ryanair has defied the government’s move to ban surcharges on payments to airlines and other firms by saying it does not charge its passengers any credit or debit card fees. Airlines, cinemas [...]
Beware bogus car hire offers
Car hire customers have been warned to take extra care when renting a vehicle this Christmas. What looks like a cheap deal could end up costing you hundreds of pounds Adverts in the national press were this week promising “unbeatable” deals on car hire this Christmas. The company behind the ads, a new name called [...]
Labour’s Spending Causes More Harm Than Good
Labour’s increased spending after the credit crunch actually harmed the economy rather than boosting it, according to a centre-right think tank. A report by the Institute of Economic Affairs found that stimulus measures pursued by Western governments in response to the economic crisis did not work. Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls has repeatedly called on the [...]
Analysts Are Counting The Cost Of Eurozone Shrinkage
Economists, banks and even punters in bookmakers are studying more and more seriously scenarios involving the collapse of the eurozone. Maybe not its total evaporation, but certainly shrinkage with peripheral or weak countries falling off the currency’s map and in all cases, according to the experts, with a heavy price to pay. Analysts agree that [...]
Shoppers Spend £4k On Their Credit Card Yearly
Shoppers are still spending a whopping £4,000 a year on their credit cards during the recession despite incomes dropping due to pay freezes and redundancy, says Scottish Debt Solutions Company, Trust Deed Scotland. According to the recent report by Standard Life “Your Commitments, Your Future”, UK credit card holders have been making £3,804 in payments [...]
NatWest admits signature forgery
Suspicions were raised when a customer discovered he had ‘agreed’ to terms and conditions on a loan when he insists he hadn’t How would you feel if you discovered your high street bank had forged your signature on a document? It sounds fanciful, or even in the realms of conspiracy theory, but this is the [...]
CITIGROUP To Cut 4,500 Jobs Globally
CITIGROUP is to cut 4,500 jobs globally, with its London capital markets division shedding dozens of staff. Speaking in New York late on Tuesday, chief executive Vikram Pandit said that the bank has already made $1.4bn in savings this year but needs to respond to slow markets by reducing costs further. City A.M. understands that [...]
HSBC Fined A Whopping £10.5m – Persuades The Elderly To Part With Life Savings
HSBC has been fined a record £10.5million after persuading thousands of vulnerable elderly customers to part with their life savings. The banking giant faces a total payout of £40million in fines and compensation, following the five-year savings product sales campaign by one of its subsidiaries, NHFA. The Financial Services Authority said the bank ‘inappropriately’ advised [...]
Supercomputer – A £900m Computer System That Can Predict The Future
A £900million scheme to produce a computer system which could predict the next financial crisis has been backed by leading scientists. The Living Earth Simulator Project (LES) aims to ‘simulate everything’ on the planet, using anything from tweets to government statistics to map out social trends and predict the next economic crisis. Using vasts reams [...]
