Defaqto, the independent financial research company, has appointed a new Chief Technology Officer (CTO).

Asitha Rodrigo joins the company after leaving Standard and Poors, where he was Senior Director for EMA Systems for over four years.

Rodrigo joins the team at Defaqto with over 15 years experience in technology and change leadership across the financial services, media and e-Commerce sectors, having held senior technology-related roles at Deloitte, Morningstar and Money Marketing.

In particular, Asitha has extensive experience of technology strategy and transformational change in fast moving financial markets, as well as working in a global multi-platform environment.

Developing software tools to enable the multi-channel distribution of product data and research to the financial service industry is a core element of Defaqtos operation, and Asitha has joined Defaqto to lead this area of the business.

“I am delighted that Asitha has joined Defaqto as Chief Technology Officer,” CEO Kenn Herskind said.

“Independent financial research goes hand in hand with modern interfaces and research tools. This

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If you’re kicking yourself for already failing your diet or whatever New Year’s resolutions you promised yourself this year, don’t feel bad. In fact, if you want to feel good about yourself, thank your lucky stars that you aren’t currently in jail or facing legal trouble for a stolen credit card. You’ll see what we mean, if you look at our latest in unusual credit card crimes.

Finders weepers

Know anyone who is unemployed and living in Swoyersville, Pennsylvania? I’m guessing that there is now a job opening at PA Landscaping. It’s just a hunch.

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With large balances having been built up by many ahead of Christmas, January is a time when a lot of consumers will seek to get their debts under control and MoneySupermarket.com has sated that those who switch to a zero per cent card can save hundreds of pounds.

Head of loans and debt at the site Tim Moss said: “Moving onto a zero per cent interest product is a no brainer – it allows you to pay off your existing balance over time without accruing additional interest.”

However, some who are in debt may find they are turned down for a card, not least if they have missed payments on their existing account and have thus harmed their credit rating.

In such instances, struggling consumers may find a debt management plan is the best way forward – or even an individual voluntary arrangement if the debt is over £15,000 and unmanageable.

According to Credit Actions latest figures, total UK personal debt stood at £1.451 trillion at the end of November 2011.

People use living wills to outline what type of medical care they want if they’re in a health-care crisis and unable to speak for themselves. Living wills relieve family members of having to make tough decisions about a relative’s care in life-or-death situations. However, living wills can come with unintended consequences that may lead to family disputes and confusion about a person’s health-care instructions.

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Credit-card scams. Just as you start the year resolving to pay off your bills, scam artists step up their efforts to steal your money.

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The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) has launched a sanctions checking facility which will help brokers and insurers in screening their clients.

Currently under the Terrorism Act, it is an FSA requirement for any insurer or broker to ensure every client is not on an HM Treasury (HMT) list which identifies people involved in terrorism. Companies are also required to re-check this list every time the list is updated.

Until now, this screening process was sporadic, often neglected, and varied from company to company. T

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Research undertaken by R3 shows that as many as 1.8 million people borrowed money to fund a trip, getaway or summer holiday this year. In particular, the 18-24-year-old age group was the most likely to take this option to pay for holidays.

However, R3 warns that taking out a loan in order to go on holiday could result in severe debt management problems when people return home again.

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Evidence collected by the body indicates that UK insurance premiums increased by about 12 per cent between 2009 and 2010, with a further nine per cent rise recorded in the first three months of 2011.

According to the OFT, the study will look particularly closely at the provision of third-party vehicle repairs and credit hire replacement vehicles to claimants.

This is an area where the organisation believes features of the market are currently restricting and distorting competition.

“We suspect companies may be competing to extract money from each other rather than keeping premiums as low as possible and providing car owners with value for money,” said Sonya Branch, senior director of services, infrastructure and public markets at the OFT.

The Consumer Prices Index inflation rate fell to 4.8 per cent in November 2011, it was revealed yesterday, but this left the rise in the cost of living still at over twice the governments target rate, maintaining the pressure on indebted consumers.

You have to wonder what anyone is thinking when they commit a crime, but credit cards crimes seem to really lend themselves to that question. You’ll see what we mean in a moment, as we present the latest in strange and unusual credit card crimes and wonder, “What were they thinking?”

Don’t use a stolen credit card where people know you

The crime: According to the Santa Clara (Calif.) Weekly, a local senior citizen had her credit card stolen. She noticed when she received her bill, which had $8,000 in charges she hadn’t made. It was used at two separate places.

What was this crook thinking?

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Manageable debt can easily spiral out of control when a person or family experiences a significant medical issue, layoff or other personal emergency. Overwhelming debt can leave debtors paying minimum balances, never getting ahead because of high interest rates and fees. Debt consolidation’s goal is paying off existing debt under a new program that ideally has lower rates.

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Expect volatility through the early part of 2012, says Virginie Maisonneuve, co-manager of Vanguard International Growth Fund, in part because of unresolved issues from 2011. Details on how to solve Europes government-debt crisis still need to be ironed out. Economic growth in China, the worlds growth driver, is slowing, even as inflation worries weigh on markets from Asia to Latin America.

Europe controls the fate of international markets in 2012.

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The report, which was entitled ‘The Debt and Generations Report’ and was produced by the think-tank known as the Financial Inclusion Centre, showed that as many as one million households containing young people aged 18 to 39 are struggling to cope with their debt problems. Researchers also identified a further 893,000 who could be “at risk” of developing debt management problems in the near future.

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Depending on your circumstances, you could consider Debt Consolidation if:-

• You find it difficult to stick to existing debt repayments
• You find it difficult to pay for everyday expenses
• Your existing debts have high interest rates and you would prefer one, lower interest rate
• You want to reduce your regular payments to a new lower amount
• You want to spread your current debt repayment out over a longer period.

As long as you do not find yourself tempted to use the paid-off credit cards, this type of consolidation should work very well.

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New research by First Direct has revealed that UK homeowners could save £41,665 by paying off their mortgages earlier with the money that they are currently saving.

Based on a £100,000 mortgage and current average saving and mortgage rates, if borrowers paid the minimum repayment on their loan and saved £300 a month in a separate savings account over a 25 year term they would actually be £42,909 worse off once they have paid off the loan.

By comparison, if they had overpaid £300 a month on their mortgage they would pay it off 12 years early, saving £23,903 in interest. If th

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