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Isn’t it good to hear that all your campaigning and hard work supporting the fight against the banks is having an effect? The lastest ‘good’ news is the reduction in overdraft fees on current accounts with Lloyds TSB. The lower charges will kick in from December when the partially Taxpayer-owned bank is to cut the daily and monthly fees for customers who go overdrawn without permission.

It will also halve to £10 the fee for a bounced cheque or e-payment, however the interest rate for an unauthorised overdraft remains at 19.3% and now customers in the red will incur a £5 a month charge as well. So, good and bad news really, they’ve given with one hand and taken away with the other, speaking about the changes, Lloyds TSB Director Mike Regnier said: “Our customers are telling us that they still think our unarranged overdraft fees are too high and we are responding to that very directly by cutting them.”

Unfortunately, the more you read about these cuts the worse it gets for Lloyds TSB customers as it has also decided to stop paying any interest on its standard current accounts. But it’s something and with the new coalition Government last month echoing Labour’s words to introduce unfair credit card charges and bank fees regulations if the banks don’t cut levies, lets hope more reductions are en-route.

With consumer loans in short supply and credit card providers being more picky about who they give plastic to, over 1 million consumers have resorted to sub prime credit card interest rates of 60%. We are, of course, talking about the Vanquis credit card and it’s backers, Provident Financial, are currently receiving around 2,700 applications a day for the high maintenence flexible friend.

This card is aimed squarely at borrowers who have a bad credit history but with few providers coughing up the cash at the moment, many middle-class families are also choosing this credit route. No surprise really if you consider that in the last 12 months, UK consumer credit card debt has risen by 15% to £61.5billion.

Last year, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) whacked a massive fine on mortgage lending company GMAC-RFC for starting repossession proceedings too early. Now, GMAC-RFC conducts no new business in the UK and as well as the £2.8 million slap on the wrist, the US based lender had to repay £7.7 million to the customers concerned.

The thing is, what GMAC-RFC did is just as bad as all the extortionate bank and credit card charges that other lenders charged leaving people overdraen and in serious debt. Yet those lenders go unpunished and have their actions sanctioned by a Supreme Court. As usual in this odd financial system we have, it’s one rule for one set of customers and another rule for another. Get it sorted, someone.

Just a quick one today to point you in the direction of Msartin Lewis’ Blog, he’s been to No. 10 to discuss the future on bank charges and credit card charges. Looks like the PM’s on board with making sure the banks reduce fees and play ball, check it out here…

People: watch out. They’re round every corner, on every main street, long established institutions with high levels of security – no, I’m not talking Goldsmiths and H Samuels, I am of course talking about banks. And it seems they all may have a sneaky plan to claw back the money they’ve lost/been fined/ran out of/paid in bonuses/paid out in bank charges (you choose) in the form of increased credit card fees.

According to industry sources, UK banks are planning to hike credit card charges by introducing annual payments and rising interest rates. There’s no doubting it will fill some of the gap they’ve created but experts at PricewaterhouseCoopers claim the increase is necessary for another reason. The recession, unemployment and all the rest has led to bad credit card debt rising by 50% to almost £5billion and these fees, they say, will encourage people to ditch credit or pay it off earlier.

Credit cards – they’re plastic fantastic until they become a lead weight but did you know that six out of 10 credit card holders in the UK clear their card balance in full each month? The majority of you will.

By paying off your balance every month, you’re maximising the benefit of a competitive credit card market by avoiding interest related bank charges and receiving the spoils that your particular rewards scheme offers.

Many of the credit cards that are currently on the market reward you every time you use them, whether it be instant cash-back, reward points, airmiles, store vouchers or just plain old discounts on stuff. However, if you use a rewards scheme to determine which credit card to choose, remember that they’re only worth it if you pay off your balance in full every month. If you don’t clear the full outstanding amount, the interest charges often cancel out any perk you get from spending.

Just at a time when we all need a little more help than any other time ,with the present credit crunch upon us, one of the leading UK credit card providers Capital One are set to punish over 4 million of their customers with a rise in interest rates. This of course follows a cut by the Bank of England to 1.5% on the base rate, which brings borrowing to one of the lowest levels ever in history.

Capital One who are well known for targeting the lower income borrower have announced the shock plans on rising the rate of some of their cards by up to 6.94 percentage points. The move when it happens will leave unfortunate people holding these cards paying 26.01% on any purchases they make on cards and 29.94% when they need cash advance.

This news is certainly going to anger those holding the cards and who are now perhaps relying on them more than ever during the credit crunch. It will also anger the Government, as the recession threatens to deepen they have asked the credit card industry to offer fairer terms for the millions of individuals in the UK who rely on credit cards.

Just last month the Business secretary held a meeting with card issuers and companies agreed to give consumers plenty of warning before hiking up the rates on credit card charges. Along with this more support was to be offered by the companies for those who found themselves in debt due to over spending on credit cards.

While they offer debt help in one hand, in the other they are hiking up the interest rates which almost certainly will go towards getting people in more debt, which they could eventually find themselves unable to repay. Capital One of course could justify their actions by saying that “changes in the environment when it comes to lending means it now costs us more to lend”