The pound has continued to gain strength against other currencies, meaning British holidaymakers can enjoy a much better exchange rate this summer.

One pound will now buy Brits around 1.20 in euros – an increase of nearly 10% on the same time last year. This means that a family exchanging £500 will get around £50 more for their money.

But it is not just in the eurozone that Brits can take advantage of the strong sterling. The pound is also strong against the US Dollar.

Those opting for a trip to the US this year will get around $160 for £100, compared with just $142 for the same price last year.

The pound’s strength against the euro has been put down the economic downturn blighting the eurozone, as well as political uncertainty in some countries.

“It’s good news for Britons buying currency ahead of a trip to the eurozone,” said a spokesman for foreign exchange firm Travelex.

“Weeks of speculation over the future of the euro, Spain’s economic crisis, and the political uncertainty in France and the Netherlands, have seen the value of the euro fall to a level not seen for years.”

There is debate over how long the pound’s strength will last, with some warning that it could drop to reduce the burden on exports.

“We would advise those looking to exchange sterling to be wary of the recent pound strength and look to exchange as soon as possible,” said Stephen Hughes, director of currencies.co.uk.

“It may also be worth considering a forward contract to fix the exchange rate at its current level,” he added.

But other industry experts said that the strength of the pound could continue for some time, and even improve in the future.

“Buying euros must be tempting right now, but I think the UK economy is in much better shape than the eurozone so there may be more of a rally to come,” said Chris Towner, director at currency broker HIFX.

There was also good news for holidaymakers heading to European countries outside of the eurozone, with the pound rising against a number of other currencies.

Since last summer, the pound has risen by 14% against the Turkish lira, 16% against the Polish zloty, and by 12% against the Croatian kuna.

One of the best ways to take advantage of the improved exchange rates is with a prepaid travel money card. By using one of these, you’ll be able to secure the good exchange rate and keep it for as long as you have the money on the card.

The UK’s economy will return to growth in the second half of this year, a leading business lobbying organisation has said.

The reassurance has come from the CBI, which has also predicted that the speed of economic growth in the UK will increase next year.

It is a positive prediction, which flies in the face of some pessimistic forecasts from the finance and business industry.

But despite the positive projection for the latter stages of this year, the CBI reduced its forecast for overall GDP growth for 2012 as a whole.

The business group had previous GDP growth of 0.9% for the year, but has reduced this prediction to 0.6% – following the economic figures for the first quarter of 2012 from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The ONS said last month that GDP in Britain was down 0.2% in the first quarter of this year, meaning the UK is now technically back in recession.

“Despite the disappointing GDP estimate for the first quarter from the ONS, we still think the UK economy will grow in 2012, with faster growth next year,” said John Cridland, Director-General of the CBI.

“Optimism among businesses has been increasing since the turn of the year, with manufacturing demand holding up. And that is beginning to translate into more jobs and investment.”

The CBI has said that quarter-on-quarter growth is expected to be flat in the second quarter of this year, as the extra bank holiday for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee reduces economic activity.

However, the business group predicts that growth will improve in the second half of the year, as a result of global economic recovery and a moderate boost from the Olympics.

While improvements in the global economy will benefit the UK economy, the CBI has said that it still poses a threat to economic recovery.

“The global economy continues to pose a number of significant challenges. Concerns over Eurozone stability are on the rise again, oil prices remain high and confidence among businesses and households are still fragile,” added Mr Cridland.

“We have always said that the path back to sustainable economic growth will be a long and difficult one, with many bumps along the way. To re-balance our economy towards exports and investment will take time and patience.”

The current economic turmoil has put a strain on people’s finances, with many struggling with debt. A good way to avoid debt is to invest in a prepaid credit card, which bypasses the danger of debt by being pre-loaded with a set amount of funds.

As the UK sank back into recession in the first quarter of this year, a leading bank has warned of a long road to economic recovery.

Lloyds Banking Group has said that the UK economy faces a number of challenges ahead, and faces a “long and difficult” recovery period.

The warning comes as Lloyds sets aside an additional £375 million to compensate customers who were mis-sold payment protection insurance, following a spike in complaints in February and March.

This large ring-fencing of funds meant that Lloyds saw a fall in bottom-line pre-tax profits in the first quarter of this year.

The banking group saw a 9% drop in profits to £288 million for the three months to 31 March, down from £316 million in the previous quarter.

Despite the fall in profits, the first quarter of 2012 was significantly better than the first of 2011 – when Lloyds reported losses of £3.5 billion.

After a turbulent period for the Lloyds, and the finance sector in general, the bank is under no illusions when it comes to the future.

“We think that the economy will be reasonably flat this year, but it is going to be a long and difficult recovery,” said Antonio Horta-Osorio, Chief Executive of Lloyds Banking Group.

“We expect it to recover to growth in 2013 and expect unemployment to peak at close to 9% by early next year.”

It is an ominous warning, but one that Lloyds itself is already heeding. The bank is currently in the process of reducing its costs.

Lloyds is trying to streamline its operation, by reducing its loan book, cutting costs, reigning in bad debts, and reducing non-core assets.

“Despite the surprising further provision for PPI redress and the weak income prospects we believe this was a positive update from Lloyds,” said Nic Clarke, an analyst at Charles Stanley.

“It has made good progress de-risking the group balance sheet by reducing non-core assets and improving its funding position.”

Despite the progress made by Lloyds, it is still struggling with its plans to sell 632 branches – highlighting the tough market for banking asset sellers.

Although mistakes have been made by Lloyds in the past, with the bank having to be bailed out by the government, it is trying to put things right with its streamlining measures.

If you are struggling with debt, it can be easy to accumulate more debt through credit cards. But investing in a prepaid card will help you avoid further debt, while still giving you some of the benefits of a credit card.

Visa is to launch a new digital payment service that incorporates all types of digital payment methods in one virtual wallet, the payment company has announced.

The new payment method from Visa is called V.me, and is effectively a digital wallet that allows users to make payments on their laptop or mobile device.

Visa will initially launch V.me in Spain, France and the UK in the final three months of this year, before rolling out the new service to other countries.

While the service may draw comparisons with Google’s new payment service, Google Wallet, Visa has said that there is clear distinction between the two payment services.

While Google Wallet is a payment system focused primarily on mobile payments, Visa’s V.me can be used in a number of different scenarios.

The payment company has said that V.me is a digital wallet, rather than a mobile digital wallet, meaning it is not restricted to mobile payments.

As well as being used for click-to-buy payments on a laptop or computer, V.me can be used for NFC payments using wave-to-buy transactions and touch-to-buy with a mobile payment service.

“V.me sits at the heart of Visa’s future of payments,” said Mariano Dima, Executive Vice President of Product and Marketing Solutions at Visa Europe.

“For the first time, consumers and retailers will have a streamlined online checkout experience through an acceptance mark that offers industry-leading security and, when a Visa card is used in a V.me wallet, the same protection and rights that come with any Visa card transaction.”

Visa has said that it will use the payments processor MobilePay for advice on the new service, and to ensure V.me is able to meet the demand from customers and retailers when it launches later this year.

No banks or retailers have been announced as partners for the payment system, but Visa has said deals and partnerships will be announced in the near future.

Visa claims the service will be a safe and secure way of paying for things in a number of different digital ways.

However, there have been incidences recently of payment methods being vulnerable to digital thieves and pickpockets – something which could become more commonplace as digital payments become more popular.

One secure method of payment is to use prepaid credit cards. A prepaid card works much in the same way as a regular credit card, but as it is not tied to a bank account there is a greatly reduced danger of being the victim of fraud.

The British economy faces several years of financial hardship with banks and insurers likely to suffer most in 2012, a report has suggested.

The UK was plunged back into recession last week, and a report by the Ernst & Young Item Club has predicted that insolvencies will go up to levels not seen since the 1990s.

The report also said that the faltering UK economy will also affect corporate lending by banks, with lending to businesses unlikely to recover to 2008 levels before 2016.

The Office for National Statistics’ revelation that GDP in Britain had shrunk by 0.2% in the first quarter of this year did not come as a shock to many in the industry.

“The double dip in recession comes as no surprise to us,” said Azad Zangana, a European Economist with asset management company Schroders.

“We have been forecasting another recession since last November when the Eurozone crisis intensified. Indeed, we are forecasting a further falls in GDP for the second quarter which will be caused by the extra special bank holiday to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee.”

The UK is not the only country to have fallen back into recession in the first three months of 2012 – it joined Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain, amongst others, after a dramatic fall in construction output.

According to the Item Club report, the bad news is set to continue for the financial sector. The report predicts that loans to businesses will fall by 6.8% this year – extending the contraction of 6.1% in 2011.

Write-offs on corporate loans are also expected to rise, increasing to 1.9% of loans in the corporate sector – compared to 1.6% in 2011.

“Although 1.9% doesn’t sound big, this will be the highest annual rate of write-offs since the mid-90s, and the more loans banks have to write off the less money they will have to lend,” said Neil Blake, a senior economic adviser to the Item Club.

“Consumer-led sectors such as retail are likely to be hit disproportionately hard as discretionary household spending is cut back amidst difficult labour-market conditions, especially in regions hit hard by government spending cuts.”

The report said that insolvencies are likely to be worst in the north east of England and Wales, as “economic output is set to contract by 0.1% and 0.3% respectively.”

The corporate sector is not the only area that is struggling financially at the moment. Retail industries and consumers themselves are also feeling the pinch as the economic downturn continues to bite.

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More and more parents are taking their children on holiday during term-time, despite facing fines designed to curb the practice.

With the UK now officially back in recession, many families are feeling the financial squeeze more than ever. While people are making cutbacks in a number of areas, the family holiday is a priority that few people are willing to give up.

It has been found that three out of ten parents are planning to take the family holiday during term time – meaning that children run the risk of falling behind on schoolwork.

This is despite the fact that they face a fine for taking their children away from school, which has gone up by 60% in the last year.

Fines were introduced in 2004, and mean that parents face a charge of £60 if they are caught – a figure which rises to £120 if the fine is not paid within 28 days.

Far from acting as a deterrent, the fines appear to be doing little to prevent families from holidaying during term-time. The number of parents taking their children out of school has gone up from 7% in 2004 to 21% in 2012.

“The difference in price for taking a trip during the school holidays and during term-time is huge,” said Selwyn Fernandes, managing director of LV= travel insurance, which carried out the research.

“It is not surprising that so many parents are willing to risk a fine of £60 when they can save ten times that by holidaying outside of the peak season.”

Analysis of family holiday prices has revealed that parents can end up paying almost 50% more for a family getaway during the school holidays than in term-time.

The cost of a week’s family holiday to Florida is an average of £2,619, whereas during the school holidays it is an average of £3,824 – a difference of 46%.

Of those planning on taking their children out of school for a holiday, 57% said it was to save money while 32% argued that they could only afford a holiday during term-time.

The cost of a holiday is rising all the time, but there are a number of ways to save money while abroad. One of the best is to invest in a prepaid travel money card.

These will allow you to access money and make purchases in a safe and secure way, while also bypassing expensive bank charges for foreign card use.

The UK’s economy shrank by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2012, meaning the country is now technically back in recession.

The threat of a double-dip recession had been looming for some time, after Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell by 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2011.

A recession is defined as two successive quarters of economic contraction, so a double-dip recession was always a possibility in the first three months of this year.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) confirmed the fears this week, as it announced that GDP was down by 0.2%.

There had been a lot of debate over how the economy performed in the first quarter of the year, with some predicting growth of as much as 0.3%.

However, for many commentators and experts, the news of an economic contraction came as no surprise.

“Today’s devastating figures are worse than we imagined, yet not a surprise given the government has been sucking investment, wages and confidence through extreme austerity measures,” said Kevin Rowan, Regional Secretary of the Northern TUC.

“Ministers now need to review all their decisions over the last two years and reflect on how they have contributed to a loss in confidence, jobs and growth. Some of the mistakes made have been breathtaking and have threatened our country’s long term future in key industries.”

The decline of the UK’s economy has been largely attributed to a sharp drop off in construction output in the first quarter of the year.

The ONS’s data revealed that construction output in the UK fell by 3%, while the production industries fell by 0.4% and the service sector, including retail, fell by 0.1%.

“The huge cuts to public spending have left a hole too big for other sectors to fill,” said Judy Lowe, deputy chairman of industry body CITB-ConstructionSkills.

Under fire from opposition politicians and industry experts, the government has said the figures are very disappointing.

“I don’t seek to excuse them, I don’t seek to try to explain them away,” David Cameron said at Prime Minister’s Questions.

“There is no complacency at all in this government in dealing with what is a very tough situation, which frankly has just got tougher.”

The UK is now officially in recession, but the majority of people will not have noticed much of an improvement since the last recession in 2009.

With household finances feeling the squeeze, it can be easy to slip into credit card debt. A good way to avoid credit card debt is to invest in a prepaid card. These are loaded with a prepaid amount, meaning you can only spend what is on the card at the time – helping avoid unnecessary debt.