Google Wallet is a new app available from Android that literally allows you to store your credit card information into your phone, allowing you to literally carry your wallet inside of your phone and thus minimising the amount of items that you need to carry on your person.

It offers you the option to put full virtual versions of most of your credit cards, loyalty cards, and even gift cards onto your phone so that you can simply pay with your phone anywhere that NFC technology is available via Mastercard PayPass terminals. Google has also tossed in a few offer deals to get consumers interested in using the new product to offer innovative customers some exclusive deals.

Special perks, discounts, and deals are not the only reason to consider using Google Wallet, as the appp is also designed to bring added security to all credit purchases.  This is due to the fact that the app requires all users to set up a separate Google Wallet PIN that has to be entered every time a purchase is made to ensure that you are an authorised user.

Therefore, you can prevent unauthorised purchases from occurring if someone should get a hold of your phone. Android mobiles also will offer a lock screen to further ensure security with the new Google Wallet app. NFC technology, which stands for Near Field Communication, is a new type of technology that is just now expanding to the smartphone market that allows any NFC enabled device to make payments with just one ‘tap.’

In essence, instead of scanning a credit card you will simply need to scan your phone on the NFC reader making it a much more secure way to use credit or debit as you eliminate the amount of people involved during a credit card purchase down to just you instead of you and a cashier.

With the tougher economic climate, credit is both harder to build and to maintain, therefore, if you are working hard to keep a higher credit card score that will make you applicable for things such as a new home mortgage or loan, there are a few things that you need to be aware of.  The following are just three of the things that can damage your credit rating that you will want to avoid.

First off is making late payments. It is understandable that every once in a while you may forget a bill until it is past it’s due date, or find yourself tight at the end of the month and have to put off making a payment. This is the reason that grace periods were created, however, once you fall into the pattern of making late payments it is easy to stay in the pattern, and late payments over a period of time will hurt your credit even if you are still managing to get all of your bills paid.

Second, it is important to keep the amount of outstanding debt that you owe down to a minimum if you do not want to hurt your credit rating. A large part of your credit rating depends on the amount of outstanding debt that you have under your name, thus, it is best to pay for items up front or save a bit to make a purchase and avoid taking out a loan if possible as this will help boost your score in the long run.

Finally, do not go overboard and avoid the use of credit altogether because having a profile that does not consist of any credit is also going to give you a low credit score. It is always best to carry at least one credit account, even if you pay it off monthly, because no credit can be just as harmful to future loan applications as too much debt.

For decades, many financial advisors have always stated that the safest investment on the market is property, because when you invest in property you own something solid and physical that can actually be seen.

It is true that today you can still see a physical investment if you choose to invest in the property market, but with the hike in interest rates and the fall in average house prices as well as commercial prices it is easy to see why many people are concerned that property may not be a wise investment for the future.

Short term at least, it may be true that property is not the best investment, especially with the higher interest rates and continual decline in overall property values. However, in the long term even with an increase in interest and a slight decrease in value property is still a sound investment as it is one of the only remaining investments that remain static.

In other words, you may not stand to gain as much in property as you once did, but you still stand to gain a reasonable amount making it the safe bet for those who do not like risky investments that may or may not pay off in the end.

Property can also be a gold mine if used for rental purposes, as the rental market within the UK is currently taking off with many buy to let properties available at great rates. In fact, the buy to let market is the only part of the property market that is still booming, and with the UK quickly becoming a nation of renters, it stands to reason that investors that jump in now and purchase property are going to see their return pay-off in just a few years.

The financial services industry has a new message for customers that are willing to listen; it is busy telling consumers that it is safer to pay by their new smartphone apps then it is to pay with a credit card. Surprisingly enough, this is not just for online purchases, as they are actually discussing purchases that are made in physical stores that allow consumers to make the payment online for their goods while still at the store. 

The idea is that instead of handing over your credit information to a clerk you just log in with your phone and complete a purchase that makes you the lone party in the checkout. MasterCard, for one, is creating a new digital wallet service that essentially allows customers to log in online and pay for their goods or check a balance transfer while out shopping instead of swiping a credit card at the point of purchase.

Consumers can choose to add multiple credit cards and addresses, allowing them to have the same convenience of choice that they would have had if they had a collection of cards in their wallet to choose among.  The trail will begin with around 100 consumers in Australia and a handful of retailers but by the end of the year the new smartphone wallet technology is expected to spread.

Westpac and Commonwealth Bank have already signed on as launch partners for the new smartphone credit app, but there is still some discussion about whether it will be a software app or built into mobile SIM cards that needs to be completed before it goes live. CBA executive general manager for payments and cards, David Lindberg, stated that the banking industry likes the idea of consumers paying with their mobile phones and that it will reduce the amount of purchases that go disputed.

With the interest rate on a standard savings account sitting at just about 0.1%, many investors are starting to wonder if it would be a better idea to place their savings elsewhere. Individuals are now questioning the value of a savings account, given the fact that contributing funds will not likely accrue to anything substantial. For this reason, there has been a great deal of interest in ISAs, the following of which are some of the best available on the market right now.

For those searching for easy access cash ISAs that allow access to cash while it is invested in the savings account, the following are a great choice given the fact that they offer a bonus after the first year of use. Nationwide Online ISA, for instance, offers an interest rate of 3.10% that is completely tax-free upon withdrawal with only a £1 requirement to get started.

Also attractive is the AA Savings Internet Access ISA and the Newcastle BS Bonus ISA 2 that are both set at 3.05%.  The major difference is that the AA ISA requires £500 to get started whereas the Newcastle only £1.

On the other hand, those willing to invest their savings in an 18 month account will benefit from the 3.50% that Cheshire BS offers to those who have at least £1000 to place in their account.  Those with smaller savings will want to check out the ISAs from Yorkshire, Chelsea, and Barnsley Building Societies that all offer 3.20% with £100 minimums.

It can be easy to get trapped into thinking that you will never have a savings account that amounts to anything, because with the increasing costs of goods and services and the decreasing interest rates it can be easy to think that at the end of the month there is nothing left to save.  However, everyone can build a savings account by using the following five top tips for and researching the best savings accounts on offer.

The very first thing you need to do is set up a standing order from your salary to your savings account so that you treat like a bill. By setting aside a small portion of your salary to go towards your savings account you will not notice the money missing as much and you can avoid the temptation to spend it. Even if you can only save £50 per month that’s a total of £600 per year that can add up even more over time.

Next, consider utilising an account sweeping tool that moves all of the spare cash into your savings at a designated point every month. You get to choose the day, but the benefit is that instead of spending your spare cash after the bills are paid it gets sent straight to a savings account, allowing you to save without noticing that your spare cash is gone once you adjust to the measure.

Of course, in order to make sure you get the most for your savings you will want to shop around for accounts that reward you. The Halifax Reward Current account, for example, pays you an additional £5 for every £1,000 you accumulate allowing you to actually earn money on your savings. Along the same lines, you will want to shop around and pick out a savings account with the highest interest rate that is available to you. Just a few extra percent points can help increase your savings.

Finally, consider setting up a coin jar because while loose change in your pocket may not seem like much, when you save your change for a year and then cash it in you will likely be surprised at how much you have actually saved.

Spring has brought out renewed interest in the mortgage market from first time home buyers, but those looking at the market are going to find that it offers the same amount of challenges as it did last year. The bad news is that interest rates are now on the rise again, making it tougher to get a leg up on the housing market. The good news is that despite this fact it is possible to still get a mortgage, but there are a few facts that you are going to want to review before signing into any contract.

First up, take some time to review and research mortgage advice such as the new first time buyers scheme offered by the government called NewBuy. This scheme helps out new homeowners that can only afford a small home deposit so long as they work with one of the seven property developers that have teamed up with the UK government.

The way it works is simple, the developer contributes 3.5% of the total sale price and the government kicks in another 5.5% of the price and both are held in a special account by the mortgage lender as a safety deposit in the case that the mortgage owner falls behind in payments.  If you are applicable for the scheme, this can help lower your required LTV.

Another thing to consider is a guarantor mortgage if you are more concerned with the increasing mortgage rates then you are with the LTV. By simply getting a family member to sign on as guarantor you lower your risk to the lender which in turn will help lower your mortgage rates. For those without equity who are buying their first home this can be a great way to secure a much more affordable mortgage rate.

If you are tired of the paltry interest rates that are making your savings seemingly stay stagnant, then it may be time to take a look at different ways to reinvest your savings. Each of the following five methods comes with its own return and risk value, but it may offer a bit more than a standard savings account.

The first suggestion is to invest in cash Isa’s which offer rates of 3%-4% depending on if you choose an easy access account or a fixed account. These accounts can be used by anyone over 16 and users are allowed to place as much as £5,340 into the account per year with tax free interest.

The second suggestion is inflation linked bonds which right now are only available from the Post Office. The deal offers a 0.25% interest rate with a bonus 0.5% if the account is kept open for the next five years.  If the current inflation rate stays current then it’s possible that the return could be as large as 4.15%.

Single corporate bonds are another great idea which involves buying a bond from a company that they in return will pay you interest on, however, there is always the chance that the company will go bankrupt and then you will see no return and lose your savings.

Finally you may think about fixed rate bonds which are offered by building societies and banks and are the top way to get high interest on a savings account, but you have to agree not to touch the funds for as long as five years before you can see the benefits.

Everyone has an opinion about taxes now, with some begging for tax breaks while others believing that taxes should be increased to help pay off the debts that countries all over the world have accumulated.

This said, there are some countries that have lower tax rates than others which can be useful to know for a business that is looking for a tax break to help make starting out, or making profits, a bit more manageable.

The lowest tax rate in Europe can be found in Switzerland with a marginal tax rate of 20% on workers, and at the same time one of the highest GDP per capita set at about $43,000 US dollars. In fact, the nation has been referred to as the home of the ‘low tax high life.’ As such, the country actually claims that people can reduce their tax rates by up to 50% simply by emigrating to the country.

What is even more surprising is that despite assumptions that Switzerland must have a poor standard of living as a result of its low income tax rate; it actually has a strong standard of life and has not struggled with the debt problems that other countries have. In fact, the country is even able to boost several of the best universities of the world. As if this was not enough, it also only has an unemployment rate of 3% which compared to the rest of the world is pretty astounding.

Car insurance can be tricky to navigate if you do not know the ins and outs of standard coverage because it can be tempting to go with whoever will offer you the lowest monthly payments.

However, be advised that low monthly payments often mean that in the case of an accident you will end up paying much more out of pocket, so this is actually not always the most cost effective choice.

Instead, you need to consider what you could afford to pay out of your pocket in the case of an accident and start from there when choosing a policy. Once you know the type of policy that you can afford you can start to shop around to see who will match your needs with the lowest monthly rates.

Of course, these are not the only variables that you will want to consider as you also need to consider if you just want liability, full coverage, or something in between depending on the type of investment that you have in the car. Insurance against uninsured drivers is also important so that you do not end up footing the bill for another driver’s oversight.

In addition, you will need to consider popular add-ons and whether they will be worth it for you to purchase, such as insurance against theft, arson, property damage for any item that may be in the car, and medical insurance for drivers that are in the vehicle at the time a collision.