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The great credit card rip-off
Originally posted by 5corpio
While the Bank of England holds the base rate at its lowest-ever level, the interest on our credit cards continues to soar.
Probably to nobody's surprise, on Thursday the Bank of England announced its decision to hold the Base Rate at 0.5% for the 27th consecutive month.
Although this news will certainly be welcomed by borrowers on a tracker mortgage, the situation is much less rosy for credit card users as it would seem companies are failing to pass on rate cuts to customers.
According to data from research company Defaqto, the average interest rates on credit cards is actually increasing despite a falling base rate — from 16.6% in July 2007 to the current level of 18.7%.
"Credit cards have become much harder for people to obtain over the course of the last few years and, at the same time, we have seen a significant increase in the standard interest rates that they charge," said David Black, insight analyst for banking at Defaqto.
"Providers are generally much more prudent when deciding whether or not to accept credit card applications. Reflecting this, personal pricing — whereby cardholders may be charged different rates of interest for the same card based on the individual's perceived credit risk — is now firmly entrenched in the credit card industry."
Click HERE to read to more on this story & the history of APR hikes
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Probably to nobody's surprise, on Thursday the Bank of England announced its decision to hold the Base Rate at 0.5% for the 27th consecutive month.
Although this news will certainly be welcomed by borrowers on a tracker mortgage, the situation is much less rosy for credit card users as it would seem companies are failing to pass on rate cuts to customers.
According to data from research company Defaqto, the average interest rates on credit cards is actually increasing despite a falling base rate — from 16.6% in July 2007 to the current level of 18.7%.
"Credit cards have become much harder for people to obtain over the course of the last few years and, at the same time, we have seen a significant increase in the standard interest rates that they charge," said David Black, insight analyst for banking at Defaqto.
"Providers are generally much more prudent when deciding whether or not to accept credit card applications. Reflecting this, personal pricing — whereby cardholders may be charged different rates of interest for the same card based on the individual's perceived credit risk — is now firmly entrenched in the credit card industry."
Click HERE to read to more on this story & the history of APR hikes