Credit Card Interest

There are some credit cards currently in circulation you could be charged up to 10,000 percent interest even if you only have one pound as a balance on the card. This is the latest in a long string of credit card issues in which we are seeing the credit card companies tightening up on their lending practices as well as raising interest rates. This has come from the scare of the credit crunch many banks are still trying to recover from. Citibank has raised their minimum interest rate on its cards from 50p to 1 pound next month.

This means bad news for those who have practically paid off their credit cards. If you leave a balance of 1 pound on the card you could be charged as much as 10,000 percent for that little bit. Citibank owns Egg and was behind the drop of 161,000 consumers at the beginning of the year. This minimum interest charge will not affect the Egg consumers at the moment according to the Citibank spokesperson. The increase will only affect consumers with a balance of 70 pounds or less on their cards. This is also about 1 percent of their consumers at the moment in the UK.

Many of the credit card companies have a minimum interest rate charge on their cards. Intelligent Finance, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, and Egg have all had these minimums at 50p. So if you pay off all of your credit card balance in a month you will be fine; however those who have a 50p minimum will be charged interest.

Other banks have decided to charge for 1 pound like Barclaycard. Of course Barclay has a 6.8 percent interest charge, which is about the best on the market at the moment, so it might be worth keeping the Simplicity Visa Card from them.

A credit card expert has looked into the charges and recent news. This person shows that there are typically hidden charges regarding balances with all credit card applications and therefore it warrants you to thoroughly read the terms and conditions. The news on the increase for interest comes on the tail end of news regarding high risk consumers. Many of the high risk consumers have had their credit limit dropped or their credit cards cancelled as a result of the credit crunch according to the banks. Co-op has admitted to slashing their consumers limits in this year.

Back To Financial News April 2008
Travel Rewards With Your Credit Card
APS and Prepaid Gold MasterCard
The Figures On Credit Card Balance Transfers
Pointers for Balance Transfers
Credit Card Interest
Credit Offers Limited
Executive’s Life Ruined by ID Theft
Getting Around Life’s Obstacles
How To Borrow A Grand
Paying for a Good Credit Rating
UK Debt and the Mortgage Industry
Abuse of Government Credit Cards
Asian Growth Helps UK
Banks Raising Funds Offers Hope
Darling and UK Banks Going Head to Head
Estate Agents and Card Fraud
Government to Help UK Banks
Insuring UK Gardens
Interest Rates Rising with Underhanded Techniques
Lost Luggage Insurance Removed
Overdraft Charges Increase Credit Card Balances
Prediction: 10 Percent Drop in Insurance Market
Rise in the Housing Market Prices
The Scams With Telephone Calls and Security Codes
UK Insurance Costs Rising