Credit Card Fees Do Not Favor Australians

We have heard over the last few days of increased interest rates on credit card fees. Now, a research has discovered that Australians are being robbed by exorbitant credit card fees and practice. The said research is part of an investigation the Australian credit cards versus the new rules being implemented in Britain.

The research was conducted when the earlier uproar regarding the decision of Westpac to add interest on credit card interest and transactions. As one of the big banks in the country, many people view Westpac and its contemporaries in a not so pleasant light. Westpac gains an even more negative reputation because of a series of decisions that do not favor the customer, but more focused on increasing profits for the bank.

This new turn of events by a major bank seems ill-time especially when data shows that the big banks have accumulated $45 billion in interest. Not a bad performance for these major players in the banking industry, so customers are very much offended because they are obviously being taken advantage.

Many customers will surely transfer their money on smaller banks with friendlier rates. Many smaller players do not impose charges on credit card transactions. Moreover, they do not impose interest on interest, which Westpac intends to do.

The Consumer Group Choice has identified several institutions that do not put interest on interest like the Bendigo Bank, Heritage Building Society and Teachers Credit Union. The aforementioned banks are found to be the cheapest among the many credit card providers. A substantial eighty percent difference compared to the rate used by big banks.

Moreover, according to Choice, the Australian credit cards will not thrive given the new rules being implemented in the UK. These new rules include several changes. It requires that repayments be alloted to a portion of the debt yielding very high interest rates. Unsolicited increases in credit limits should be prohibited so that the user can properly manage his or her credit card use. Lastly, consumers should be able to have the choice to refuse any increase in interest rates. These new measures are seen to be highly beneficial to customers with an estimate eight hundred million dollars savings within a year.

However, Choice asserts that those banking practices banned in the UK is still pretty mainstream Down Under.

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