Credit cards

Customers who've claimed for mis-sold card and identity theft policies from CPP are being sent cheques thick and fast – some for almost £1,000.

Borrowers can now get 18 months interest-free spending for a year and a half, plus up to 3% cashback with Santander's new 123 credit card deal.

The financial regulator is to scrutinise whether competition in the UK's £150bn credit card market is working well for borrowers, in particular those in financial difficulty.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has promised "tough and decisive action" against payday lenders that don't follow strict new rules, after taking over regulation of the consumer credit market from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) today.

NatWest and RBS have axed their credit cards with introductory 0% rates, replacing them with a new deal which charges 6.9% representative APR on transferred balances and spending. But you can get other cards which charge less.

700,000 Barclaycard customers with a cashback credit card will be moved to a new deal in May – but it may leave some, particularly those who used to have Egg cards – worse off.

NatWest, RBS and Ulster Bank are banning introductory bonus rates to get back to basics with simpler products. But MoneySavingExpert.com creator Martin Lewis says the move could result in even lower returns and less certainty for savers.

Payday lenders will have to make sure their customers can afford their loans and face having misleading ads banned under new rules to crack down on the industry.

Don't throw financial circulars away thinking they're junk – you could be one of up to seven million people being sent claim forms to get money back from mis-sold Card Protection Plan (CPP) credit card and identity protection policies.

Credit card users looking for a new balance transfer card should consider Nationwide's game-changing new deal, which launched today. It gives 0% on transferred debts for 26 months with only a 0.75% fee.