This week in money

Credit cards, not using credit cards, not paying credit cards (with permission from the bank) and Australia.

ADIB postpones payments during Ramadan month

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank has delayed all payments for its car and personal finance customers during June at no extra charge. The move aims to ease the financial burden on customers during the Ramadan and Eid period – a time of heavy spending for many. The offer is valid for instalments due between June 1 and June 30 and is available to those with a salary transfer agreement with the bank and who have paid more than three previous instalments. Customers are free to opt out.

Amex to issue Hilton branded credit cards

American Express will be taking over as the exclusive credit card company for Hilton Hotels, a major success for a company that has been facing increased competition lately. The New York-based credit card company will be the sole issuer of the Hilton co-branded credit card starting from January 1, 2018. Currently Hilton has credit cards issued by Citigroup and Amex.

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"Everyone says we can’t rely on Japanese pensions any more. This worries me, so I started Bitcoins."

Mutsuko Higo, a Japanese social insurance and labour consultant who bought US$1,800 worth of Bitcoin in March to supplement her retirement savings.

Australians curb spending

Australia’s economy may have avoided a recession for 25 years, but the consumers that have driven much of the growth are now running out of puff. The nation’s household debt-to-income ratio has climbed to an all-time peak of 189 per cent, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia. That means there are an increasing number of people who have little cash for discretionary spending as their pay packets are consumed by large mortgages and high rental payments.

0.2%

British shoppers kept a tighter grip on their credit cards last month as they felt growing pressure from rising inflation, new figures showed. Official data for the first three months of 2017 showed that retail sales volumes fell by their most since 2010, and Tuesday’s figures from the British Retail Consortium and Barclaycard point to further weakness.

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