Money News
11th August 2008
Credit card customers among crunch's biggest losers
Credit card customers have been almost as hard hit by homeowners by the credit crunch, new data has shown, with borrowing costs on plastic continuing to rise.
According to research conducted by MoneyExpert.com, the average credit card interest rate in February was 16.8 per cent.
However, the current average rate is now 17.4 per cent, with 72 cards now charging at this level or above.
Sean Gardner, director of MoneyExpert.com, said: "Homeowners have been the most visible losers in the credit crunch but credit card customers are also sharing the pain.
"Average rates of 16.8 per cent were bad enough in February but despite two Bank of England rate cuts which reduced borrowing costs by 0.5 per cent credit card average rates have increased by 0.6 per cent."
He added: "Mortgage customers might complain about rates of six or seven per cent but for credit card customers the charges are much higher."
Mr Gardner urged customers facing higher repayments on their cards to use price comparison sites to shop around for a better deal.
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