There's a fox in the hen house of personal finance. It's called a credit card, writes Diana Clement. Most people have little plastic friends. They may also have Farmers Card, QCard, Gem Visa and other store cards, which are disguised credit cards.

Visa is to stop accepting signatures for its New Zealand-issued credit cards for most transactions from later this year in a bid to strengthen security.

Remember that ad where Richie McCaw races around the shops in a suit, buying wedding presents and tapping his card on an eftpos terminal?

Ordinary travel insurance is full of fish-hooks, writes Diana Clement. Credit card travel insurance has even more nasty surprises.

Credit card debt has reached a record high - and if you're keen to get rid of yours faster, it pays to hunt for the best deal.

Kiwis appear to be falling back into the bad credit card habits last seen before the global financial crisis, an economist has warned.

Competition is heating up in the $5.6b credit card market, with two major banks releasing new offers in the past week.

Credit cards are designed to part us with our money. Canny customers, however, can sometimes use these little plastic cards to their financial advantage.

Card fraud is now big business. The victim may be in New Zealand; an offender may well be in Russia, Germany or Taiwan."Cash, they told us, was old hat. Paper money was an anachronism from another era, an idea whose time had passed.

Banks and police are trying to stay ahead of wily credit card fraudsters - but as long as banks mail pre-activated cards, the problem will persist.

After a week-long holiday relaxing in the Far North, Chloe Johnson panics when she tries to buy skincare products online and discovers the card is missing from its usual home inside her wallet.

A man arrested in Australia for "significant'' credit card fraud is alleged to have used money fleeced from bank accounts to travel to New Zealand on fake passports.

More New Zealanders are feeling comfortable about increasing the limit on their credit card limits now than this time last year, according to survey findings.

A consumer watchdog has called Air New Zealand credit card surcharges draconian - but how much you pay depends on where you book your tickets.

New Zealand banks face what is expected to be the biggest class suit the country has seen over $1 billion in default fees claimed by lenders over the past six years.

New Zealand's total credit card spending has taken its first annual drop in three years.

New Zealanders are collectively paying more than $600 million a year in interest on personal credit card debt, according to figures from the Reserve Bank.