May 17, 2006

By Peter Kenny

Just launched in the last few weeks, the GE Money Transformation credit card has attracted a lot of attention due to its generous introductory offers.

12 months 0 per cent offers on balance transfers and purchases and a standard APR of just 12.9 per cent, showed GE Money meant business in their attempt to attract new customers.

At the time of their credit card launch, any balance transfers would have incurred a fee of 2 per cent, which would be capped at £50, for each transaction.

Yesterday GE Money changed their balance transfer fee to 2.5 per cent.

Due to the fact that there is still a fee cap, the effects of this increase are nominal for credit card applicants; however, more changes may be on the way.

With such an incredible introductory offer, GE money must have been inundated with new applications and in turn been overwhelmed with new credit card holders suddenly activating a balance transfer.

A recent online poll should that nearly 70 per cent of UK credit card holders regard a 0% balance transfer deal as the most important aspect of their credit card. With this in mind it is no wonder GE Money have increased their balance transfer fee, however, will they stop there?

It is reasonable to expect GE Money will drop their balance transfer fee cap in the near future. With the other big credit card players like Barclaycard, Mint and Egg already having dropped their balance transfer fee cap, how long can GE Money sustain their £50 maximum fee?