The fuel card providers have reduced the burden of individuals as well as organizations with the introduction of fuel cards. It is a kind of credit card used for making payments after purchasing fuel, avoiding standing in a queue to pay cash. There are various benefits of using a fuel card and especially for the organizations that require fleet of cars or other vehicles for delivering goods or the transport businesses. They can make use of the fleet cards and then they do not have to pay cash to their drivers as all the invoice come with tax shown separately on it. Also there is another very significant and reason and that is the price of the fuel. With the every day increasing rates of fuel, individuals have started feeling financial burden but if they use fuel cards they can relax and get rid of this burden. Not only this they can also get discounts on the purchase of fuel.

The monitoring of fleet cards is easy and it saves time and money again with as the staff will be spending much less time in evaluating and monitoring fuel spent. Also the calculation of fleet mileage allowance becomes simple along with budgets, times and locations of drivers and therefore the chances of misuse of fuel cards are eliminated. Typically any fuel card that has been taken from a reliable and reputed fuel card company will always allow the staff to access to an online fuel card tracking system to all the fleet cards transactions if one wishes to view the details. There is a vast extension of these fuel pumps providing the services of fuel cards and therefore you can be saved from any kind of business loss which occurs due to late delivery of goods and services. It is very necessary to enquire which company is the best fleet cards provider and this you can always enquire on the savings of your fuel possible for your organization based on the monthly and annual expenditure on fuel in your organization.

Making travelling convenient for UK & Irish hauliers, who travel further afield, special European fleet cards are used which can be operated at 3000 locations across mainland Europe including UK, Spain, France, Portugal, Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg. Moreover, as fuel is cheaper in this continent than what it is in UK, there has been has a rising demand for fuel cards internationally.

Fuel card providers can make your journey smoother as well as can reduce the financial burden making your life easy.

Flat Rock, GA, United States (AHN) – The oldest African American church in DeKalb County no longer has a place to worship.

Flat Rock Community Church was established 150 years ago. Now, one of the members said it is in financial limbo.

In November, the church separated from the United Methodist denomination in a disagreement over property, reports stated. In December, membership thinned out, and the church could no longer afford the $6,500 mortgage, resulting in the building going into foreclosure.

According to senior pastor Binita Miles, members are discouraged they have to deal with political and financial issues within the church, and not religious concerns.

For the past month, the church has been meeting at the Flat Rock archive building, and starting in January they will move to Flat Rock Elementary School.

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Credit Union CEOs need to urge their representatives to take another look now….[ Read Article ]

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Atlanta, GA, United States (AHN) – Bankcards continue to lead the pack in regards to new credit into the market. The figures reported in an Equifax monthly credit trend report also reveal that in November credit delinquency rates continued to fall.

Total consumer debt reflecting mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards also continued to decline hitting $10.6 trillion in November, down 8.2 percent from its peak of $11.5 trillion in October of 2008.

Bankcard balances have been declining for more than two years; however, new card account growth has returned and defaults have peaked. 2.8 million new card accounts were opened in September marking 17.3 percent on a year-over-year basis for the month. Additionally in a show the times lenders are again underwriting subprime borrowers on a limited basis after the severe pullbacks during the recession.

“The gradual recovery in the economy, the improvement in loan performance, combined with the effects of both consumer and lender deleveraging of debt, is opening up the market to the availability of more credit,” explained Michael Koukounas, Senior Vice President – Special Client Services. “But while there is more credit being made available, particularly in the bankcard segment, and while consumers are spending more, they are continuing to deleverage and not add to their credit card debt.”

Some of the other statistics the report outlined include:

Auto loans increased by 11.5 percent in September2010 from the previous year even when you take into account the cash-for-clunkers program sponsored by the U.S. government.

The number of home mortgages at least 30 days late in November dropped for the sixth consecutive month to 7.0 percent from 7.17 percent.

Data for the Credit Trends Monitor Report is compiled from Equifax’s nearly 200 million files of US consumers using credit.

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A U.S. District judge in Los Angeles has rendered a tentative decision in favor of former board members of Western Corporate FCU in a lawsuit by the National Credit Union Administration related to WesCorp’s failure. However, the court has permitted the lawsuit against WesCorp’s former officers to proceed.

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Mogadishu, Somalia (AHN) – After meeting in the Somali capital, some 50 lawmakers on Tuesday demanded that Somali government officials come before the parliament and display allegedly unlawful contracts with foreign companies currently operating in the country.

All foreign companies operating in Somalia should leave the country as soon as possible, some of the parliamentarians said in a statement.

MP Abdurrahman Jimale Osman, speaking to reporters in Mogadishu, charged that over the last few months a number of foreign companies had entered the country illegally and were operating in many parts of Somalia. Some high ranking government officials are accused of being behind the illegal operations, according to the MP.

Parliament members called on Prime Minister Mohammed Abdulahi Mohammed to come before the body to explain if he knows anything about secret contracts some of Somalia’s top government officials had with foreign companies.

The MPs’ statement comes less than 24 hours after reports suggesting the Somali government had handed over Mogadishu International Airport to SKA Air and Logistics, a Dubai-based company.

One day after the report, SKA Air and Logistics denied it had signed a agreement with the government to manage the airport for 10 years.

Yusuf Sheikh Ali, the spokesman of SKA air operations in Somalia, has told radio station Shabelle the company had a contract with the Somali government.

He said under the agreement, SKA would implement many changes and improve those that are functional but require upgrading.

“Somali government has the responsibility and will control all the activities in the airport,” Ali noted.

Last week, the Somali government announced it had a contract with Saracen international, a United Kingdom-based security company, to train Somalia’s police, military, bodyguards and civil servants.

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Getting in debt with a credit card or personal loan can be the worst kind, one writer has noted.Credit cards and personal loans are the worst type of debt that someone can have, according to one industry expert.Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon, writing for the Sydney Morning Herald, said these options are bad because of the high interest rates associated with them and they are used for assets that lose value over time.

“Or they are for experiences for which you’ll have nothing to show afterwards, such as holidays,” she added.But she pointed out that a credit card is often the worst offender as the repayments are usually set so low that people may never pay them off in full, while the rates are typically the largest.Ms Pedersen-McKinnon recommended that the best way for someone to eliminate Aussie credit debt is to transfer the balance to another product which has a much lower or no interest rate for a starting period and attempt to remove the debt in that time.

She continued: “Don’t use the card for any new spending – this is how the banks recoup their apparent generosity. Fresh debt will attract a high interest rate from day one and until you’ve cleared your entire transferred balance.”

Moreover, it is not just personal loans and credit cards that are problematic as she noted that home loans can also cause issues.However, the writer stated that there are “massive” potential savings from early repayments.This advice comes after the Daily Telegraph’s John Rolfe advised consumers to organise themselves financially in order to save capital, as well as switching to a low-rate credit card.

Bobby King, 18, faces charges of 2nd degree burglary, property theft and credit card theft.

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Charlotte, NC, United States (AHN) – Bank of America has gone on a spending spree, buying potentially offensive domain names in preparation of WikiLeaks’ next batch of released documents.

The bank believes it may be the whistle-blowing site’s next target.

Reportedly the bank is taking the fears very seriously and is devoting a lot of time and money to minimize the potential fallout. The megabank is buying abusive domain names by the hundreds for many of its directors and senior executives.

The bank is aggressively buying “sucks” and “blows” domain names and similar monikers. According to Domain Name Wire, site names such as “BrianMoynihanSucks.com” and “BrianMoynihanBlows.com”—even “BrianTMoynihanSucks.org”–are some of the hundreds of domain names purchased. Brian Moynihan is Bank of America’s CEO.

The bank has come under intense scrutiny recently for its practices that some analysts deem callous and unethical. It has been accused of rampant fraud and is the subject of a federal racketeering suit.

Adding to that is WikiLeaks, which has hinted it has a treasure trove of documents that will shine an uncomfortable light on a major bank’s actions before and during the financial crisis of the past two years.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange previously said he would release information on a major U.S. bank to force the resignation of its senior leadership. Assange, who is facing a torrent of legal troubles, reports he has only delayed the release because of the sheer amount of information at his disposal and his inability to decide how to release it.

Bank of America has publicly denied it believes it is a target.

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London, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – Britons had a heyday swiping their credits cards while doing their Christmas shopping. Reports estimate the total amount of credit card purchases for gifts, food and drinks at $2.85 billion (GBP 1.9 billion).

However, another $225 million (GBP 150 million) was expected to be spent on Boxing Day, bringing the total credit card bills due by early 2011 to $3.075 billion (GBP 2.05 billion).

Including cash and online purchases, analysts estimate post-Christmas and early 2011 spending will hit $33.75 billion (GBP 22.5 billion), which would register a 20 to 25 percent increase in sales. The rise in sales is also attributed to pent-up demand after a number of shoppers failed to go to the malls prior to Christmas because of the heavy snowfall and transport crisis.

Experts fear that the record yearend holiday spending could result in a record number of insolvencies to be filed, prompting a major consumer credit counseling group to appeal to consumers to use their credit cards wisely.

There is speculation the high volume and amount of purchases may have been done deliberately to beat the hike in value added tax to 20 percent from 17.5 percent by Jan. 4. A consumer website confirmed that one-third of shoppers admitted purchasing items ahead of schedule to beat the VAT increase. But because of the high interest rates on credit purchases, particularly for 12 percent of Briton consumers who pay only the minimum monthly, any savings from the VAT hike would be eaten up by interest charges.

Yearend holiday purchases would add to the worsening debt situation of Britons. According to Bank of England figures, consumers owe a total of $87 billion (GBP 58 billion) on credit cards and another $235.5 billion (GBP 157 billion) on unsecured loans and overdrafts. To compound their financial woes, 100,000 public servants are expected to be laid off in early 2011.

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