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It has been reported that Music festivals that do not accept cash payments are heading for the UK next summer.
Revellers attending some UK festivals next summer will be asked to pay electronically for items such as food, drink and t-shirts.
Such payments will be made by using special wristbands which will also double as your entry ticket. The wristbands can be pre-loaded with money before the event.
Barclaycard, which sponsors the Wireless Festival, has said that it hopes next years concert will be cash free.
However, the BBC has stated that none of the festival promoters they contacted would confirm that these devices will be used.

Shoppers could soon breathe a sigh of relief if banks stop the high fee they charge retailers for purchases made with Credit/debit Cards.
It’s reported that it costs high street retailers 2.1p when their customers cash whereas a Debit Card transaction costs 8.5p and a Credit Card 34p.
The Government has promised a shake up of these charges with retailers demanding a fairer system.
If Debit/Credit card charges were as low as the fee for cash transactions, shops could save up to £480m, which in turn could be passed on to consumers through lower shop prices.

I received a email recently from Martin Lewis’ Money Saving Expert website informing me of some more ways to help me save money. One thing I did notice was that Current Account Holders at the bank Santander, can benefit from flexible cash ISA’s paying 3.2%, and which guarantees to be 2.7% above the base rate for the first year. But, this is only available to their Current Account holders who will have to go into their branch to get one.
Although this is the top rate at the moment, it will more than likely drop after the first year.

It’s been reported this week that the inflation on house price’s is back in double figures according to government figures.
The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has generally reported that prices in the month of April were 10.1% higher than they were at the same time last year.
This is apparently the biggest turn in inflation since October 2007 when house prices were on a downward trend.
Annual house price growth was 10.9% in England, 2.2% in Scotland and 11.3% in Wales.
However, on average house prices in Northern Ireland fell by 8.9%.
Whilst this is the trend in prices mortgage lending has been very modest in the past year.

The BBC News Channel gladly reported today that the United Kingdom’s Inflation fell faster than expected in the month of May.  The fall was apparently helped by lower food prices and slower rises in the prices of petrol and alcohol.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) dropped to 3.4% from 3.7% in April according to the Office for National Statistics.
Howard Archer, an analyst at IHS Global Insight, said: “May’s retreat in CPI will be of some relief to the Bank of England and boosts its case that inflation will head down significantly over the coming months.”
The CPI fall also eases pressure on the need to raise interest rates.

John Mack, head of US bank,  Morgan Stanley hit out at overpaid bankers. He said, “I still don’t think the industry gets it.” Rather than reduce the amount that bankers get paid, banks are looking at restructuring of pay agreements to defer bonuses. He warned that, “If we [bankers] don’t do something on pay the government will.”

Even banks that are making losses and under government control are still receiving bonuses. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), 84% owned by the government, announced losses of £3.6bn but is still paying staff more than £1.3bn in bonuses.

Bankers say that these salaries are the market rates. As an example of the huge sum that change hands, Mr. Mack cited, a trader that had recently left Morgan Stanley to work for a hedge fund. He was being paid $11m but was poached by the hedge fund for a $25m.

The UK inflation rate rose unexpectedly to 3.5% from 2.9% the previous month. There are two measures of inflation the Retail Price Index (RPI) which measures a general domestic inflation by measuring the cost of a fixed basket of retail goods.Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a second measure of inflation which is a more general measure of inflation and is the  measure targeted by the Bank of England.

The increase was a result of the rising of VAT back to 17.5% and higher petrol prices. However, this rise has taken the CPI more than 1% above the government target. Mervyn King must write a letter to the chancellor to explain the rise.

Many economists had fears that inflation would begin to rise with the injection of £200bn into the economy through quantitative easing. (QE)

While it was announced that the UK had limped its way back to positive economic growth ending the recession, the job market is still suffering and the future looks bleak especially in the public sector where a report has said that one in three public sector employers plan to make job cuts this quarter.

Unemployment is currently at 2.46 million people. After the bailout of the banking system the UK government is faced with the prospect of making huge cuts in services and the possibility of more taxation for year to come.

In the private sector, outsourcing of jobs abroad is a likely prospect as costs are cheaper. India and Eastern European  countries remain popular outsourcing destinations.

At the mint in Chile, the general manager has lost has job after failing to stop the issue of 50 peso coins which were struck with a spelling mistake. It is particularly embarrassing as the mistake is the name of the country. Instead of the Chile the coins were stamped with Chiie. Such a dramatic mistake has turned the coins into a numismatists delight. People are keeping them in the hope that they will rise in value.  Rather than trying to destroy the coins they will remain in circulation. This is not the only mistake that has been made by the mint. There have been two incidents where rare coins and medal which should have been kept in the museum have found their way onto the open market and being sold to coin collectors.

If you work in an investment bank and your colleague is being interviewed  on the television, it is probably not the best time to be checking your email from your immature colleagues or spammers as happened during a television interview with Martin Lakos, an analyst from Macquarie Private Wealth, to discuss  interest rates. But the interest in the interview was elsewhere as an investment manager is seen looking at semi-naked models in the background.

The video has ended up on YouTube becoming an instant hit. Eagle eyed viewers have identified the images as model Miranda Kerr. Only near the end does the foolish worker realise his error and turns toward the camera. No bonus for you this year.

Open plan offices are often in television interviews. It is certainly very funny when something like this occurs although I am surprised that this does not happen more often.