Credit Card Fees. The Credit Card Companies Strike Back

Summary: Spending on plastic has never been more popular as more and more rely on cards instead of cash. Indeed experts believe carrying cash could soon become a thing of the past. High Street spending on debit cards outstripped cash for the first time in 2005 according to Precious Plastic 2007, the latest study of the UK consumer credit market from accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers. Our reliance on cards comes at a price though. The PwC research also revealed that credit card fir...

Spending on plastic has never been more popular as more and more rely on cards instead of cash. Indeed experts believe carrying cash could soon become a thing of the past. High Street spending on debit cards outstripped cash for the first time in 2005 according to Precious Plastic 2007, the latest study of the UK consumer credit market from accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers. Our reliance on cards comes at a price though. The PwC research also revealed that credit card firms are feeling the pinch and their profits continued to this year as the industry came under unprecedented scrutiny from watchdogs such as the Office of Fair Trading, the Competition Commission and the Financial Services Authority. Clamping down on credit card charges has got to be good news? Unfortunately the combination of falling profits for card firms, tough action by watchdogs and the soaring popularity of cards is not necessarily good news for the majority of credit card users. Experts estimate that new consumer protection rules cutting the fees charged by card firms for going over your limit and missing payments to a straight