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Credit card rates `are on the up`

15/07/2008

Research conducted by Moneyfacts for the Independent on Sunday has found that a number of credit card lenders are raising their rates.

High street banks involved in the increase include Barclays, Co-op, Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC, the newspaper reported.

In total the Independent said 19 purchase rates have been increased over the last three months.

Michelle Slade, from Moneyfacts, said the scale of increase has not been seen before.

"Generally, hiking the purchase rate is considered a last resort for lenders, as they have to put this headline rate in their adverts," she said.

If lenders need extra cash, they usually increase fees for transferring balances or start charging customers to withdraw cash from ATMs, Ms Slade added.

David Kuo, from Fool.co.uk, said it was getting increasingly difficult for consumers to find a good deal and so they should seize the opportunity if they found one.

Earlier this month the debt consultancy company Thomas Charles warned consumers that credit card companies may start taking users to court in order to recover debts.

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