Effective immediately, new NatWest credit card customers can take advantage of 13 months interest free on balance transfers and 6 months interest free on purchases. NatWest is offering a 'go-to' rate of a typical 12.9% APR (variable). And the bank's current account holders can enjoy an even better go-to rate of a typical 11.9% APR (variable) when applying for a new credit card. Balance transfer fees meanwhile vary from 2.5-2.9%.

Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show retail sales beating City forecasts as fears that consumers would cut spending, due to the ongoing credit crunch, have proven (for now) overstated. Total sales volume increased by 0.4% between October and November. Or twice what analysts had been expecting. Meanwhile, sales volume in the three months to November increased by 1.1% compared with the previous three months. This follows 1.3% growth in the three months to October.

At a time when money issues are commonly acknowledged as one of the most common causes of relationship breakdown, new research from Engage Mutual has found that 22% of Britons living with, or married to, their partner, have financial secrets which they aren't prepared to share with their loved one - credit card spending topping the poll as the number one red lie (36%).

If you have a credit card with the Royal Bank of Scotland, Natwest or Mint, changes to the card small print will soon mean that the current 56-day interest-free period will be reduced to 45 before charges kick in. From January 1st, RBS that owns Natwest and Mint - is slashing the interest-free period available to many of its customers. But controversially, these changes will affect only those who pay off their credit card bill in full each month.

With eleven days to go until Christmas Day, new research from online bank Egg finds that Britain's last minute Christmas shoppers could be looking at a £594 million overspend. This year nearly 4 million shoppers will leave all of their Christmas shopping until the week before Christmas and this last minute panic buying will result in them spending more than they intended to.

Public fears over identity theft have doubled during 2007 - and it has overtaken yob culture to become the top safety concern for British women according to research from American Express Insurance Services. A poll, conducted by YouGov, asked a representative sample of 2,000 Britons what their top safety concerns were in the run up to Christmas. Findings were compared to YouGov research from the start of 2007 to give an impression of sentiment change over the course of the year.

Millions of shoppers will put the cost of their Christmas gifts on store cards this year, despite being by far the most expensive means of buying goods. The average annual rate of interest charges on a store card is 26 per cent, according to calculations from comparison service, uSwitch.com. This is 10 per cent higher than the average credit card, which is payable at16 per cent APR. In other words, shoppers using store cards are paying 62 per cent more in interest than their credit-card holding counterparts.

As demands on people's finances are increasingly pushed to their limits national charity Citizens Advice is urging everyone to avoid a debt hangover and become a smart shopper as Christmas approaches. To help people manage their money for a debt free Christmas, Citizens Advice has joined forces with Barclaycard to issue ten top tips to avoid a Christmas debt hangover:

Despite the housing market doom and gloom and general economic concerns, people on average are planning a bigger festive budget than last year, according to new research by American Express Platinum Credit Card. The research has found that shoppers are planning to spend on average £511 each this Christmas - £50 more than last year, with men planning to spend £60 more than women over the festive season. Indeed, it shows an anticipated average spend of £307 on presents. But that's dramatically lower than figures put out earlier this month by Verdict Research predicting spends of £1,300.

From December 3rd, Abbey is offering zero per cent on balance transfers for 13 months to all new credit card customers. In addition, it has extended its supermarket cashback - so new customers taking out an Abbey credit card can get cashback until the end of July, and existing customers until the end of March. The 5% cashback applies on the first £1,000 worth of purchases from major supermarkets bought with an Abbey credit card. Given that the average household spend in large supermarkets is £190.23 per month, according to recent research, the £1,000 limit covers over 5 months' worth of shopping and is worth up to £50, claims the bank.