Millions of credit card customers could be putting their details at risk thanks to negligent UK call centres, 97% of which repeatedly breach guidelines on data security, according to a report published today.

A nationwide survey of UK call centre managers by audio recording specialists Veritape found that calls containing sensitive details about customers’ credit cards, including their three-digit security code, are routinely stored on call centre computers, leaving credit card holders exposed to fraud.

This is in direct breach of global industry standards drawn up by the Payment Card Industry Data Security Council.
The report, called The Great Credit Card Gamble, found that over nineteen in twenty call centres that store recordings of transactional conversations with customers do not delete or mask any sensitive information revealed during these calls.

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The Bank of England’s quantitative easing process has helped carry the UK through the recession, deputy governor Charles Bean has claimed.

Speaking to an audience of accountants in London, Mr Bean said he believed the Bank had contributed significantly to the £600 billion of new capital generated by British businesses since January - a £200 billion increase on the previous nine months.

“The rise in asset prices and the recovery in confidence since the start of the Quantitative Easing programme have been significant,” he said.

Bean’s comments come during a period of falling inflation in the UK, suggesting that another round of quantitative easing, beyond the £175 billion already authorised by the government, could safely go ahead.

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Pensioners will see their basic state pension rise by £2.40 a week next April following the publication of inflation figures later today.

Next year’s pension rise is based on the retail price index for September, which will be published by the Office of National Statistics today. Economists predict that the index will fall below last month’s figure of -1.3%, but the government has already guaranteed an increase in weekly pension payouts of no less than 2.5%. On this basis the state pension is likely to increase from £95.25 a week to £97.65. It follows an increase of 5 per cent a year earlier, up from £90.70.

Andrew Harrop, head of policy at the Age Concern and Help the Aged charity group said the rise was woefully inadequate. “Although the commitment to raise the basic state pension by at least 2.5 per cent will be a relief for older people, a £97.65-a-week pension is still not enough to ensure a decent standard of living to people who have worked hard all their lives.

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Cases of identity fraud have skyrocketed during the economic downturn, with the number of victims of identity theft increasing by a third since the start of the year, according to the fraud prevention service CIFAS.

The past nine months have seen 59,000 recorded cases of impersonation by criminals seeking cash, loans, credit and goods this year. This means the UK has had more instances of identity fraud this year than any other country in Europe.

Account takeover, whereby a criminal hacks into an existing account rather than setting up a new one, have more than tripled in the last two years. More than half of these instances involved credit card accounts. The increase in online shopping and customer carelessness are both thought to be behind the rise. A quarter of takeovers affected bank accounts, while the number of mobile-phone accounts hijacked increased from 899 to 2,022.

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The amount of money lost through card fraud in the UK fell by 23% during the first half of the year as new prevention measures came into effect, new figures reveal.

The total cost of fraud on credit cards and debit cards fell to £232.8 million from January to June, down from £304.2 million in the first half of last year, according to Financial Fraud Action UK (FFAUK).

Losses from counterfeit card crime, where cards are skimmed or copied, fell by the largest margin, from £88.8 million last year to £46.3 million. Card-not-present fraud, including internet, phone and mail order crime, fell 18% from £163.9 million last year to £134 million.

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House prices continued to rise last month, fuelled by low interest rates on borrowing and a shortage of properties coming onto the market.

According to the Halifax, house prices increased by 1.6% in September, the third monthly rise in a row and the fifth that the lender has recorded this year. Last week Nationwide reported a 0.9% rise in prices last month, triggering hopes of a more rapid market recovery.

However, economists predict that the recent rise in house prices is likely to slow towards the end of the year and into next.

House prices have risen by 1.7% since the end of last year, to an average of £163,533, and by 5.9% since April last year, when prices had plunged to a low of just £154,490.

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Tesco is soon to sell current accounts as the supermarket chain looks to expand its finance offering.

The company announced today that its finance division, which has been renamed Tesco Bank, will start selling current accounts from in-store branches, giving customers access to a full range of banking services.

“Tesco Bank is already making good contributions to sales and profits,” said chief executive Terry Leahy. “I think Tesco Bank sets out a stall for the future of our business. It will be a bank for Tesco customers and there will be more products soon.”

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Conservative plans to raise the pension age earlier than planned will be outlined in a speech by shadow chancellor George Osborne later today.

If elected, the Tories will raise the pension age for men to 66 as early as 2016 in a bid to cut Britain’s budget deficit, instead of 2026 as planned. They have not ruled out raising the pension age for women to 66, but say that doing so by 2016 is “out of the question”.

But Labour ministers have branded the proposals “deeply unfair” on women.

Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, Tory leader David Cameron said that the party would conduct a review first before taking a decision on the pension age.

Cameron said that Lord Turner, who conducted the original review behind Labour’s decision to raise the pension age for men between 2024-26, recognised that his initial recommendations should have been “more ambitious” because of increased life expectancy.

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Over-50s will be able to put aside up to £3,000 extra in tax-free savings from today, as new ISA allowances come into force.

The amount people can save in a tax-free ISA has risen from £7,200 to £10,200, of which half can be saved in cash and half in stocks and shares. The new limit applies to those born on or before 5th April 1960. Younger savers will have to wait until 6th April 2010.

The new limits, which were announced by Chancellor Alistair Darling in this year’s budget, are designed to help savers who have been hit by the steep drop in interest rates.

“I am determined to help savers, because while low interest rates have helped millions of homeowners, I also know that they have hit those who rely on their savings to get by,” he said.

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The British Property Federation (BPF) has called for tougher regulation on buy-to-let mortgages. It said that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) should take the initiative on a “crackdown on reckless lending”, which would help refinance the housing market.

Currently, the federation said, buy-to-let mortgages are treated like business loans, whereas the majority of home loans, such as owner-occupier mortgages, are overseen by the financial watchdog.

The BPF said that it had discussed the status of buy-to-let mortgages with the FSA and Treasury as early as 2005. It added that all three parties had revealed a “wholesale awareness of dubious practice”, but that the FSA and Treasury “said the problem was the other’s responsibility”.

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