CREDIT
CARDS
Illegal
Credit
Card
Penalties
Credit
Card
holders
who have
suffered
financial
penalties
due to
late
payment,
exceeding
their
balance,
or
bouncing
direct
debits may
have a
claim for
significant
part
refunds.
Lawyers
say that
the
penalties
appeared
to breach
the Unfair
Terms in
Consumer
Contracts
Regulations
1999, the
Consumer
Credit Act
1974, and
common law
to boot. A
court case
in 1998
between a
mortgager
and lender
ruled that
the amount
of penalty
was more
than it
was
forfeiting
as a
result of
the
breach. A
Barclaycard
customer
has
already
received a
£250
refund.
Source:
Sunday
Times
(Ed: I
don't know
what you
will do
with your
refunds,
but I'm
looking at
a nice
villa in
....)
UK
BUSINESS
5 Year
High for
UK
Business
A
report
from Euler
Trade
Indemnity,
the French
owned UK
credit
insurer,
says that
UK
business
is growing
at it's
fastest
rate in
five
years. The
index for
Domestic
demand
increased
from 46.7
to 52.9,
and export
from 43.4
to 47.4.
With the
strong
pound (£)
exporters
were
unlikely
to see
much
change.
Small
business's
should
look to
profit
from the
current
boom by
improving
sales
networks
and even
(with some
companies)
take this
opportunity
to employ
dedicated
sales
staff with
targeted
sales and
commission
structures
to help
them ease
into a
more sales
orientated
operation.
INTERNET
Internet
Rides
Radio
Waves
Patricia
Hewitt,
the Small
Business
and
E-commerce
Minister
on the 14
January
2000
announced
that
internet
users at
home and
in the
office
will soon
benefit
from fast
always-on
access to
the
internet
over radio
links. Ms
Hewitt
said the
Government
plans to
make radio
spectrum
licences
available
for the
new
broadband
fixed
wireless
access
services
in two
tranches.
It intends
to make
the 28GHz
licences
available
this
summer and
40GHz
licences
in the
autumn.
This
follows
the
consultation
'Wireless
in the
Information
Age'.
Business
and
domestic
users will
have
access to
broadband
services,
such as:
fast
always-on
Internet
access
over radio
links
without
the need
for cable
or
telephone
connections;
and,
high
capacity
data
transfer
and video
conferencing.
Ms Hewitt
said:
"There is
a high
demand for
interactive
multimedia
services
that is
set to
grow
dramatically
over the
next few
years.
Radio
links can
offer
quick
access to
these
services
and more
choice and
benefits
for
consumers
and the
economy.
"I want to
make sure
that
innovative
services
can be
developed
as quickly
as
possible
and this
will be a
major
consideration
in our
decisions
on how
best to
package
the
spectrum
and award
licences."
The
Government
will put
proposals
to
industry
for
spectrum
packaging
at the
first
meeting of
a
Broadband
Fixed
Wireless
Access
Consultative
Group on
14 January
(today) as
well as
seeking
expert
advice on
financial
and market
issues.
Proposals
for the
number of
licences
to be
awarded
and the
geographical
scope of
licences
are
expected
to be
announced
in March.
In
awarding
licences
the
Government's
overall
aim is to
secure the
timely and
economically
advantageous
development
and
sustained
provision
of
broadband
fixed
wireless
access
services
throughout
the UK,
for the
long term
benefit of
UK
consumers
and the
national
economy.
Subject to
this
overriding
aim the
Government's
objectives
are to:
utilise
the
available
broadband
fixed
wireless
access
spectrum
efficiently;
promote
early and
effective
competition
for the
provision
of
broadband
access
services;
subject to
the above
objectives,
design a
licensing
award
procedure
which is
best
judged to
realise
the full
economic
value to
consumers,
UK
industry
and the
taxpayer
of the
spectrum.
Source:
Creditman
Company
Reports &
Formations
(Ed: Are
you as
confused
as me?
Technology
is moving
so fast,
and wide,
with some
innovations
being
outdated
before
implementation.
My 'Tip of
the Week',
last week,
about not
buying
hardware
for at
least 6 -
12 months
is borne
out by
announcements
such as
this.)
TIP OF THE
WEEK
Free
Password
Software
Get
rid of
bits of
paper and
mind
clutter.
If you
have as
many PIN
numbers,
passwords
etc as I
do, a free
download,
called
'Whisper
32, from
Ivory
is worth a
look. It
will
encrypt
all input.
File size:
422kb (not
big).
SHORT
BITS
Hmmm
That's
Interesting
(or
Worrying)
Internet
Traffic:
In 1999
Yahoo came
in second
with 42
million
unique
visitors
while
Microsoft
was third
with 38
million.
AOL and
Lycos
remained
in first
and fourth
place with
54 million
and 29
million
visitors
respectively.
Yahoo's
increased
traffic
can
largely be
attributed
to its
acquisition
of
GeoCities
and
Broadcast.com.
Source:NUA
A new
(well, it
is to me)
search
facility,
Great
Britain
allows you
to search
any four
of the top
engines/directories/megasearch
at once
and then
get result
in four
separate
windows.
You can
then call
up four
different
sites to
view and
compare.
This is
the future
of the
desktop.
The Royal
Bank Of
Scotland
RBS is
offering
free
business
banking
until 2002
by post,
telephone
or
Internet.
The
Co-op's
e-bank at
Smile
is
offering a
£500 fee
free
overdraft
at 9.9%
EAR ('EAR'
?) and
interest
on savings
at 4.33%
AER ('AER'
?). EAR =
Equivalent
Annual
Rates AER
= Annual
Equivalent
Rate
(Ed: What!
are we
expected
to
understand
all this,
I think
not.)
To find
out your
revised
business
rates due
to come
into force
on 1 April
2000 go to
Open Voa,
for the
Valuation
Office
Agency
TOPIC
The
‘Rules’ of
Credit
1. A
Credit
Policy
exists,
and is
known,
understood
and
accepted
by all.
Your
Credit
Policy
should be
an
accessible
document,
resembling
an
induction
manual,
which
gives
‘step by
step’
instruction
for the
processing
of credit
applications.
This need
not be a
large
document
that
details
every
procedure
in minute
detail
(ideal if
you can),
but it
must have
certain
elements:
An
application
form with
full
details of
procedure
Underwriting
authority
levels
Reporting
structure
for
seniority
The
administration
procedure
following
a credit
application
In a
detailed
Credit
Policy you
would
expect to
find the
complete
system and
procedure
from the
credit
application
through to
bad debt
recovery.
2.
Sales on
credit
terms
drive
sales, not
support
sales.
You
should
only
provide
credit to
your
customers
if you:
Can afford
to
You get
extra
sales that
you would
not
otherwise
get
You can
administer
credit
control
and debt
recovery
functions
You
should not
provide
credit if
you:
Cannot
afford to
Get
customers
who want
your
credit
more than
your
product
Have no
experience
or
resource
to
administer
credit
3. Terms
and
Conditions
of
Sale/Service
are
disclosed
to
customers/clients
and
applied.
Terms and
Conditions
say more
about your
credit
function
than any
other
action.
You are
telling
your
credit
customers
that
standards
are
applied
and, that
any credit
period
allowed is
a benefit
you
‘choose’
to give,
and not as
a right of
a trading
relationship
with you.
Always
send a
welcome
letter to
new
accounts
with all
their
account,
payment
and credit
limit
details:
why not
get them
to sign
one copy
to
acknowledge
the
content?
Ensure
your sales
people
never say
when
talking to
a
customer/client
“it’s OK,
I can sort
out a new
credit
limit for
you if you
need more
goods/service”.
4.
Input of
customer
data is of
a high
standard.
The
administration
of credit
accounts,
and your
cash flow,
can be
seriously
damaged if
you cannot
review all
of your
credit
account
details,
such as,
customer/client
account
reference,
name and
address,
contact
details,
balances,
