Consumers finally starting to switch their credit cards

May 29, 2007

There has been a lot of media attention regarding switching over your credit card company in order to get the best deals and it seems that people are finally starting to listen.

In the past six months, studies have shown that around 600,000 consumers have now switched their credit cards and they are making use of the offers presented to them. The main reason why people are changing over is to take advantage of the few zero percent deals which are still available. These deals have decreased over the past few years but there are still some companies allowing you to save for a limited time period.

However whilst consumers are currently enjoying the benefits of switching cards, the losses which the credit card companies are making are set to be made up in other ways. Whenever banks and credit card companies face a downfall in profits, they always come up with another way of earning money. One of these ways is by adding annual charges and Barclaycard have already revealed plans to charge £20-£30 per year for those consumers who do not use their card frequently enough.

Other ways in which they have introduced charges include charges for withdrawing money from the card. So you really cannot escape credit card charges no matter whether you switch or not.

Overall credit card companies do know what they are doing and whilst more consumers are making the right decision to switch, they are constantly thinking of more ways to earn money. The charges of £20-£30 per year are only minimum charges and it is thought that some consumers could have to pay up to £275 a year. That is obviously a large sum of money and it is going to outrage those consumers who have to pay that much to keep their card.