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."