Credit card payment processor E-Clear faces scrutiny over the collapse of Scottish airline Flyglobespan, it has been confirmed.
The carrier was declared bust last week, leaving up to 4,500 holidaymakers with no way of returning to the UK from the 24 destinations it serves on three different continents.
However, joint administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has suggested that its downfall was partly caused by E-Clear stalling for months on handing over credit card payments worth £35m.
"To address concerns expressed by creditors ... administrators have requested that the funds held by E-Clear, which are estimated at £35m, be placed in a joint account immediately," PwC said in an interview with the Guardian.
In addition, PwC believes that £20m of the figure can be attributed to credit card payments from customers who have already flown with Flyglobespan.
The situation was clouded further over the weekend with the revelation that Allbury Travel, which is owned by E-Clear chief executive Elias Elia, has also been placed in administration.
Seach
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Credit card payment firm 'caused airline's fall'
Record credit, debit card ATM use predicted
By UK CreditCards.com
Britons will withdraw a record amount of money from cash machines on their debit and credit cards this month, according to research by Sainsbury's Finance.
Sainsbury's predicts that ATMs will dispense £10.6 billion during December, representing a significant rise of £619 million from 12 months earlier.
The total figure equates to £341 million in withdrawals per day, £14.2 million per hour or £237,100 per minute and is the highest monthly volume for six years.
Alex Blake, head of ATMs at Sainsbury's Finance, said: "This party season, make sure you don't leave getting your cash to the last minute -- why not get your spending money while you're doing your shopping."
The credit card provider reached its conclusion after analysing trends between 2004 and 2009, finding that 12.4% more cash is withdrawn in December than during a normal month.
Sainsbury's became the first major British supermarket to immerse itself in financial services when it opened a bank for trading in February 1997.
It is now believed to have over 1.5 million active customers with combined deposits worth more than £6 billion.
2011 Hyundai Veloster/Tiburon Prototype Spied
A KOREAN ENTHUSIAST has snapped the first picture of a prototype of Hyundai’s Veloster small sports coupe.
The Veloster was revealed in concept form at the 2007 Seoul Auto Show. Hyundai confirmed earlier this month that it would build a successor to the Tiburon around the Veloster’s body.
While camouflaged, the blacked-out A pillars and hump-backed roofline of the Veloster concept are in plain evidence, and confirm that Hyundai is following through on its promise to bring the Veloster/Tiburon to showrooms.
A 2+2 coupe, the Veloster will be based on the new Accent’s underpinnings and, unlike the Korean automaker’s Genesis Coupe, will be front-wheel-drive only. Both LHD and RHD production is planned, meaning an Australian release is likely.
A 105kW 1.6 litre direct-injection petrol engine will power the car, and fuel economy is estimated to be in the region of 5.8 l/100km.
Further specifics are not yet known, but with a debut confirmed for 2011 we should hear more about Hyundai’s upcoming sporty coupe in the coming year.
ASUS Eee PC 1201N Review Article Contents
The ASUS Eee PC 1201N is loaded with Intel's dual-core Atom as well as NVIDIA's ION. This computer falls into its own little category since it is too fast to be a netbook and not as powerful as a CULV notebook. Read our full review to find out how well this dual-core Atom machine performs and if you should get this instead of a CULV notebook.
ASUS Eee PC 1201N Specifications:
- Windows 7 Home Premium (32-bit)
- Intel Atom N330 Processor 1.6GHz (533MHz FSB, 1MB Cache)
- 2GB DDR2 SDRAM (667MHz)
- 250GB 5400 rpm SATA HDD plus 500GB Online Storage
- 12.1-inch diagonal WXGA (1366x768)
- NVIDIA ION
- Realtek RTL8191SE B/G/N Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
- 4-in-1 media card slot
- 11.65 x 8.19 x 1.31
- 3lbs 3.5oz (not including weight of AC adapter)
- 6-cell Lithium-Ion battery (5600mAh, 63Wh)
- One-year standard warranty
- MSRP: $499.99
Build and Design 
The ASUS Eee PC 1201N has an attractive wedge design with a very thin profile at the front that gradually thickens towards screen hinge. This shape is nice to type on when the computer is resting on a desk, since the front edge isn't too far up from the desk surface. This reduces pressure on the edge of your wrist and also helps out your hands since the keyboard is sitting in an elevated position. The glossy black finish looks great and the attention to detail is excellent. Usually notebook manufacturers don't apply a special finish to the battery when they finish a notebook and simply leave the battery looking like a big matte plastic part sitting in the middle of a perfectly glossy area. Thankfully ASUS went the extra mile and painted the top cover of the battery glossy black, which blends in very well with the top edge of the keyboard bezel.
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Screen and Speakers
The 12.1" screen on the Eee PC 1201N is great for browsing the web, editing photos, or even watching HD movies. Color and contrast are excellent thanks to the glossy surface and LED-backlighting. Color saturation is better than average although only in a narrow viewing range. Once you start to tilt the screen forward or back the colors start to look dim or very washed out. Horizontal viewing angles were better; staying visible until roughly 60 degrees where the reflections on the screen start to overpower what is being displayed. Peak backlight brightness was fine for viewing in bright office conditions, but only when the brightness was set to 100 percent. Outdoor viewing was close to impossible unless you were in some serious shade from a tree or other structure.
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The onboard speakers were lap-firing and sounded very tinny. The speakers had no low frequency response and just a small hint of midrange. This is fine for listening to streaming music or watching a YouTube clip, but not for sharing a movie in a small room. The speaker orientation did cause some problems if you had the system laying on a bed or sitting on your lap. It was easy to partially obstruct the speakers which would make them sound muffled. Overall I think a user's best option for listening to music or movies on this system would be to use a nice pair of headphones or connect it to a stereo through its HDMI-out port.
Keyboard and Touchpad 
The nearly full-size keyboard on the 1201N is very comfortable to type although it still has a learning curve compared to regular sized notebooks. Most condensed keyboards don't give me too much trouble, but the smaller size and location of the shift-key on the right side kept causing typing errors. Normally I have my pinky sitting towards the outer edge of the keyboard, which is fine for most notebooks. On netbooks this puts my finger directly over the Up arrow. After a day or two my finger got used to the placement and it was less of a problem, so don't be too concerned if you experience some frustration while typing with it right out of the box. The keyboard looks and feels very well built. The keys are designed with a rough matte finish on top which helps increase fingertip traction. The keyboard itself feels very strong and doesn't flex even under strong pressure. Individual key action was smooth, giving off a quiet high-pitched click when pressed.
The touchpad on the 1201N is a Synaptics model with great sensitivity and speed. Right out of the box we did notice a slight traction problem where it was hard to slide your finger across the surface smoothly, but this could have been caused by lack of oil and residue the multi-touch sticker covering the touchpad. ASUS uses a glossy surface with small raised bumps for most of their newer netbooks and it takes a few hours of use before the surface builds up enough oil to easily slide your finger around. In our tests we didn't notice any lag or speed issues, which has been a problem for some touchpads recently. We had no trouble at all drawing perfect circles on the screen or quickly popping the mouse to opposite corners of the display. This touchpad also supports a few multitouch features which can be handy when you don't want to lift your hand off the touchpad. The 1201N offers two-finger scrolling, rotating, and pinch zoom, as well as three-finger flick and three-finger down.
Ports and Features
Port selection on the Eee PC 1201N is pretty good for a netbook, offering three USB ports, HDMI-out, VGA, LAN, and audio jacks. It also features a SDHC-card slot for expanding internal storage or just loading images off your camera while traveling. The only negative aspect of the connections on this Eee PC is the super-tiny AC adapter plug. Compared to any other notebook or netbook (and even some cellphones) it is smaller and potentially weaker. It is hard to speculate on long term reliability, but I don't see how it could hold up as well as more robust connectors.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Credit card fraudsters target Scottish hotels
By UK.CreditCards.com
A gang of fraudsters from the West Midlands have pocketed £20,000 by using stolen credit card and ID details.
The group, known as the Coventry Falcons, booked cheap flights to Scotland with the intention of targeting customers at some of the country's most distinguished hotels, the Daily Record reports.
Breaking into the rooms when they were unoccupied, the criminals took the relevant documents and subsequently used them to empty their victims' bank accounts.
Despite the sizeable sum being racked up in a one-month spree, a prominent member of the mob, Simon Close, has been caught and sentenced to seven months in jail.
As a result, a Proceedings of Crime action has now been lodged at Perth Sheriff Court in order to claim the £1,239 in Mr Close's possession at the time of his arrest.
"The [Coventry Falcons] steal cheque books, credit cards and ID documents," read one part of the action quoted by the newspaper.
"They then use the stolen items to commit fraud to obtain money and goods. Such frauds are often committed before the victim realises the items are missing."
Booking flights on credit cards 'is crucial'
By UK.CreditCards.com
Britons should always pay for flights with their credit cards because of the financial protection they can potentially offer, according to a leading consumer magazine.
The issue of financial compensation for cancelled bookings has come under sharp focus recently, with the imminent threat of British Airways strikes being narrowly averted and the collapse of Flyglobespan.
Scotland's leading low-cost carrier was plunged into administration last week, leaving more than 4,000 passengers and up to 800 staff stranded in foreign destinations.
Many travellers affected by the news will not be suitably compensated as insurance companies tend to avoid covering the demise of a tour operator.
However, those who made purchases with their credit cards could be in line for a refund under the terms of the Consumer Credit Act, as long as they spent between £100 and £30,000.
Rochelle Turner, from Which? Holiday magazine, admitted that this approach is now even more important at a time when an increasing number of carriers appear to be under threat.
"Always bear in mind the debit and credit card protection when paying for flights," she said in an interview with the Daily Mail.
Flyglobespan was founded in November 2002 and its main bases were Glasgow International Airport, Edinburgh Airport and Aberdeen Airport.
Sainsbury's predicts record credit card ATM use
By UK.CreditCards.com
Britons will withdraw a record amount of money from cash machines on their debit and credit cards in December, a new report suggested.According to research by Sainsbury's Finance, ATMs will dispense £10.6 billion during December, representing a significant rise of £619 million from 12 months earlier.
The total figure equates to £341 million in withdrawals per day, £14.2 million per hour or £237,100 per minute and is the highest monthly volume for six years.
Alex Blake, head of ATMs at Sainsbury's Finance, said: "This party season, make sure you don't leave getting your cash to the last minute. Why not get your spending money while you're doing your shopping."
The credit card provider reached its conclusion after analysing trends between 2004 and 2009, finding that 12.4 per cent more cash is withdrawn in December than during a normal month.
Sainsbury's became the first major British supermarket to immerse itself in financial services when it opened a bank for trading in February 1997.
It is now believed to have over 1.5 million active customers with combined deposits worth more than £6 billion.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Credit card holders given BA strike hope
By UK CreditCards.com
Credit cardholders who put their Christmas flights with British Airways on plastic could be entitled to a refund if the airline's proposed strike goes ahead.
The carrier has confirmed that 12 days of industrial action are planned over the festive period, a move which could potentially affect about a million travellers as flights are rescheduled.
However, Rochelle Turner from leading consumer magazine Which? Holiday told a local television news station that anyone who bought their trip on a credit card is protected by the Consumer Credit Act of 1974.
Section 75 of the act offers additional legal protection for anyone purchasing goods or services worth between £100 and £30,000 on their cards, meaning the costs could be reclaimed from their provider if BA refuses.
This could prove significant as the airline has vowed to resist paying compensation if it can prove that cancellations were caused by "extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken".
Analysts believe that the strikes could see BA lose between £40 million and £50 million in profits, and between £250 million and £275 million in revenues.
Credit card payment allocation confusing
By UK CreditCards.com
Customers remain confused over the complex issue of credit card order of payments, although public knowledge on the issue has improved slightly since 2007.
A poll from building society Nationwide suggests that 63% of customers do not know the order in which their credit card payments are allocated, compared with the 69% who said the same two years ago.
Credit card balances can consist of several different debts, all charged at varying rates of interest. For example, a low-interest balance transfer debt can be added to a high-interest purchase or ATM withdrawal to make a balance total. Providers' policies vary on which order these debts are paid when a customer makes a repayment.
Balances are often paid off faster for customers of those firms whose policies prioritise the higher-interest debts and vice versa.
Nationwide's product and marketing director, Chris Rhodes, commented: "Our research results are unequivocal: Consumers still don't understand this issue and continue to be penalised. This is a fairness issue and a positive order of payments [ie, paying off the most expensive debt first] is now the fairest way forward for consumers."
Reflecting public concern on the issue, the government imposed new order of payments rules on credit card firms in October 2008.
Providers are now required to make their payments policy clear on customer statements.
Card thieves battle it out on the internet
By UK CreditCards.com
Growth of malware infections, including those from botnets, have led to credit card criminals battling each other for control of victims' computers.
According to Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for net security firm Sophos, gangs are conducting an "internet war" to "commandeer" the systems and steal personal details.
Users of computers compromised by malware are more vulnerable to credit card fraud. Criminals can use the viruses to monitor victims' internet usage and pick up their account passwords and even card numbers.
Figures from Cisco, a tech firm, also revealed this week that the security breaches have become so numerous that an individual's credit card details have been devalued. Two years ago, fraudsters were selling the information on at rates of up to £9.70 per customer. Currently, the information is going for as little as 30p.
Mr Cluley said: "What we are increasingly seeing is the botnets fighting each other -- attempting to commandeer compromised computers from one hacking gang's control into another's.
"It's not unusual today for the malware we encounter in our labs to be aware of other forms of internet attack and attempt to defeat it. Unfortunately it's innocent users' computers which are the field of battle for this internet war."
Monday, December 14, 2009
Contactless credit card use to increase
By UK CreditCards.com
Barclaycard and Barclays have issued over 5m contactless credit and debit cards since 2007, the providers announced December 10.
In a new report, the card firms suggested that customer usage of the service will increase, with around 20,000 stores currently accepting contactless cards.
Contactless payments work by customers holding their card against a specially-adapted reader. The transactions are instant and do not require the cardholder to enter their PIN. However, contactless payments are limited to transactions of £10 or less and customers are occasionally asked for their PIN or their signature as a security precaution.
Amer Sajed, chief executive of Barclaycard UK, said: "Together with Barclays we continue to roll out contactless technology across our card portfolio as we believe it is the future of payments."
He added: "Consumer feedback highlights the increasing demand for contactless payment."
Outlets accepting the cards include Caffe Nero, Pret A Manger and EAT. Barclaycard, the credit card unit of Barclays bank, retains around 11.9 million customers in the UK.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Prepaid cards can offset travel costs
By UK CreditCards.com
For loved ones travelling during the holiday, the gift of a prepaid card for Christmas can help with travel costs, suggests prepaid card provider Caxton FX.
Currency cards are "pre-loaded" with credit in the same way as a pay-as-you-go mobile phone. They commonly charge lower fees for transactions and cash withdrawals than the typical credit card. Exchange rates can also be fixed by prepaid card customers, so that the user always knows how much their foreign purchases are worth in sterling.
Providers currently offering the products include Caxton FX, FairFX and Travelex.
Mainstream credit cards such as the Santander Zero and the Post Office Platinum also offer fee-free foreign transactions.
"If a friend or relative is planning a holiday, you could give them a prepaid currency card," Caxton FX added.
"This is a present that keeps on giving, long after you've exchanged that fetching jumper from Great Aunt Mildred."
Published: 8 December 2009
Weak pound increases ski trip costs
By UK CreditCards.com
Credit card customers have been warned that the cost of ski holidays has increased over the past year.
Santander Cards said that the weak pound is a major factor behind the typical winter sports package costing £686, the highest since the beginning of the decade.
Ski destinations in the eurozone were found to cost up to 15% more for UK travellers than they did last season.
The firm advised customers to take out a credit card that does not charge extra fees on overseas transactions in order to mitigate these price increases.
Figures from Snowsports cited by the report indicated that the number of people going on a winter sports break fell by 6% last season.
Emma Roberts, director at Santander Cards, said: "Winter sports enthusiasts may well be tempted to try somewhere new this year because of the impact of the weak pound on prices for premium European skiing destinations."
Foreign exchange fee-free products currently on the market include the Santander Zero card and the Post Office Platinum card.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Britons reining in credit card spending this Christmas
By UK.CreditCards.com
Around one in six Britons are planning to fund some or all of their Christmas costs via credit cards.
Figures from Saga showed that, among those who will make the credit card payments, 28 per cent will try to clear their balances immediately in order to avoid extra interest charges.
Among those older than 50, this total increases to 32 per cent.
The report also showed that the typical festive spend would reach £435 per UK adult this year.
This is 35 per cent below the equivalent total for 1999, once inflation is factored in.
"Responding to the current economic environment, many people are spending only what they can afford," Saga says. "Today's consumers are reining in the cost of Christmas."
Customers who plan to put festive spending on plastic retain the option of using a 0% credit card to avoid paying interest on purchases.
Many deals currently on the market offer interest-free transactions for new customers for six months or more.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
AmEx launches 'supermarket' credit card
By UK.CreditCards.com
American Express has launched a new reward credit card that puts a premium on purchases made at supermarkets.
The Express Rewards Credit Card comes with a '3-2-1' payments system, with three points offered per £1 spent in supermarkets, two points for £1 of department store spending and one point per £1 for all other transactions.
In additin, all purchases carry zero per cent interest for the first six months of use.
Points can later be exchanged for gift vouchers, which are redeemed at participating retailers, including HMV and Marks & Spencer.
Katrina Cliffe, head of consumer cards at American Express, said: "The 3-2-1 point earning rate means our credit card reward programme is one of the most generous on the market.
"As much of the UK's shopping bill is spent in supermarkets and major stores, we've aligned with some of the UK's major retailers to bring richer rewards for people's everyday spending."
The Express Rewards Credit Card differs from American Express' own Platinum card, which offers direct cashback rewards linked to purchases.
Other credit cards currently on the market offer rewards including air miles, supermarket clubcard points and charity donations.
Study: Americans check credit card statements more than Britons
By UK.CreditCards.com
Attitudes to credit card security differ between the US and UK, new analysis has shown.
Adeptra, a web security specialist, points out that American consumers check their statements more regularly than their British counterparts.
This means that U.S. customers are much more likely to spot unusual payments, which is one of the main ways in which card fraud is detected.
Adeptra said that 11 per cent of U.S. bank and credit card customers check their accounts daily, while 53 per cent conduct weekly reviews.
By contrast, 67 per cent of Britons only looked at their statements each month and 10 per cent never checked them at all.
Adeptra chief executive Lou Venezia said that consumers should try to conduct the reviews regularly, especially during the festive season.
"Credit and debit fraud is more prevalent than ever," he said.
"As fraudsters look to take advantage of the volume of transactions over this busy shopping period, consumers expect peace of mind as their banks and credit issuers do all they can to stay a step ahead of fraudsters."