Credit card balance transfer fees rise
September 11, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Credit-Cards
The cost of transferring balances across credit cards has been steadily rising in the past year, research from MoneyExpert.com has found.
Since being forced by the Office of Fair Trading to cut their charges, credit card providers have raised transfer fees from on average half a per cent to 2.67 per cent.
This tactic has been seen by some as a strategy to earn back some of the money the credit card providers lost when they were forced to cut their charges.
Sean Gardner, chief executive of MoneyExpert.com, said: “What goes down must go up seems to be the experience in the credit card industry.
“Card firms have lost out since they were forced to cut so-called default charges so now customers are losing out as balance transfer fees increase.”
However, though balance transfers are increasing, consumers should still be on the look out for better rates and be willing to switch, Mr Gardner said.
Meanwhile, the overall amount of personal debt in the UK now exceeds one trillion pounds, according to the debt organisation Credit Action.


