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Barclaycard offers us the convenient solution?

Posted in General, Mel Varley May 8th, 2007 by Melinda Varley

Over the past couple of months the UK has seen a number of new financial products enter the market. Most of these products have come about to make our lives a little easier and a little more convenient, but will they ultimately end up costing us more?

Barclaycard announced in December last year it was trialing a wave and pay credit card that had Oyster technology installed to save customers from entering their chip and pin. This has been designed to cut down your time spent at the till or in the queue. But I thought British people love queuing?

Anyway, the concept is a pretty good idea and you can only spend up to £10 at a time, but just how safe is it?

In 2005 the UK made chip and pin, as opposed to signing a receipt, a compulsory way of checking that the card you are using is indeed yours. As a security conscious nation the UK that same year introduced the idea of ID cards – this however, was not so warmly welcomed.

Earlier this year we saw pre-paid debit and credit cards enter the market which has the potential to become an easy and convenient way of money laundering and terrorist financing. Does anyone see a pattern? For every step forward we seem to take a step back.

Yes these products are convenient, not so safe though and have the potential, because of how easy they are to use, to get us deeper into debt. 

Imagine yourself walking down the high street with no change but the smell of a tall Starbuck skinny latte with a shot of almond wafting your way. What do you? Wave your credit card to pay the three or so pounds plus your transaction fee (who knows what that could be these days) and there you have it, like magic…like you never spent any money at all.

Latest figures from the Bank of England said that British homeowners are borrowing against their homes to support their spending and pay off their credit card supplementing £100 of take-home pay with £6 of extra home loans to help finance their increasingly expensive lifestyles, but convenient, lifestyles.