Mega Monday Sales and Rip Off Britain: Don't Let the Banks Pile on Debt Misery, Warns Industry Expert

HERTFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND, November 30, 2010

Have you heard the one about the man who went 8p overdrawn and ended up owing his bank GBP215?* Or how Lloyds Bank charges an amount equivalent to 46,450,869% APR for a GBP200 unauthorised overdraft?**

These aren't jokes from inside Christmas crackers, sadly, but an indication of how some of Britain's banks are taking advantage of already cash-strapped customers and piling on more debt misery, says industry expert Gary Miller-Cheevers.

And with pre-Christmas sales starting this week leading up to Mega Monday - when it is anticipated that half a billion pounds will be spent online on Sunday, December 5 and Monday, December 6*** - Mr. Miller-Cheevers is urging consumers to think carefully how the fund their purchases.

He warns: "We all love a bargain and with many of the well-known high street retailers now having sales, both in-store and online, it can be easy to get carried away and spend more than we planned.

"However, as the case studies highlighted above show, even going in to a small unauthorised overdraft could cost you dearly. So overall, with fees and interest thrown in, your bargain purchases could end up costing you more than their normal retail price!"

Mr. Miller-Cheevers (who is also CEO of payday loan company speed-e-loans.com) recommends that consumers who will need to borrow money in order to snap up the bargains they've had they eye on, or simply to make Christmas a bit more special, should do it in such a way that they fully understand just how much it will cost them.

"Sadly, banks aren't transparent with their fees and charges," he says, "so it is almost impossible to work out just how much you could end paying for an unauthorised overdraft. With speed-e-loans payday loans, all our fees and charges are transparent. So, if someone wants to borrow GBP200 for 10 days, they know that it will cost them exactly GBP223.40 to repay it."

He adds that cash-conscious consumers may be interested to learn that borrowing via payday loans may often work out more cost-effective than going in to an unauthorised overdraft, citing how an unauthorised overdraft of GBP200 with Lloyds Bank for the same period of time would cost GBP285.95 in total - nearly four times the amount of a speed-e-loans payday loan.

For more information, visit www.speed-e-loans.com.

*BBC 1 Rip Off Britain BBC One, broadcast 9:15am, 29 Nov 2010
**Daily Mail 17 Nov 2010
***Sunday Express 28 Nov 2010

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