How much does your credit card charge?

With more and more credit cards charging extortionate annual fees it seems as though many consumers in the UK may not even know how much they are paying by way of annual fees, what they are getting for these charges, and even whether they are paying charges at all. Experts are now warning consumers to check and see whether their credit card charges an annual fee, and if so how much it is.

Recent reports indicated that one in every eight credit cards was now charging an annual fee, and many think this is because of the loss of revenue that credit cards companies have suffered as a result of a cap being placed on the amount that can be charged by way of fees. Financial regulators in the UK placed a cap of twelve pounds on fees that were being charged by credit card companies, and for some card companies this was only a third of what they had previously been charging.

A number of credit cards are now charging annual fees, which can vary from around £20 a year to nearly £300 a year. Officials from Moneyexpert feel that annual fees are going to become more and more common as credit card companies try and recover from the financial losses brought about by capped fees as well as by bad debt levels.

One MoneyExpert official stated: 'The rising tide of bad debt hitting banks and other credit card firms is forcing providers to tighten their belts and think of new ways to make money. We thought we'd seen the end of annual fees on credit cards, but we think there could be a return sooner rather than later. Credit card companies will be under pressure to improve profits and reduce bad debts, and that could mean finding customers who are prepared to pay for credit.'

Tom Smith
14th June 2007