MILLIONS of credit card customers battling to pay off debt are being slugged with higher interest fees, despite historic low official rates.
More than half of cards issued by banks, credit unions and building societies have higher rates now than two years ago, an investigation has found, The Advertiser reports.
Consumer group Choice says that while scores of providers penalised customers with interest rate rises when official rates increased, most have passed on just a fraction of cuts since September last year.
Card providers deny exploiting customers. They blame a funding cost blowout for risky forms of debt for their failure to pass on further cuts.
However, in another blow to poorer card owners, many customers signed up to cards with benefits attached have received more rate relief in recent months than those on cheaper products.
Spokeswoman Elise Davidson blasted banks for failing to pass on bigger savings as more Australians faced the prospect of job cuts.
“The people who are really suffering at the moment and trying to do the right thing by having a low-rate card are not getting as much of a break as others,” Ms Davidson said.
Choice says average rates on no-frills cards have jumped from 11.15 per cent to 12.05 per cent since July 2007. Average interest rates for fancier cards edged up slightly from 17.8 per cent to 17.9 per cent.
Over the same time, the Reserve’s official rate fell from 6.25 per cent to 3 per cent.
Analyst Peter Arnold, of Canstar Cannex, said credit card interest rates were influenced by many factors other than the RBA cash rate, such as default risks.
“Credit card debt is unsecured and therefore much harder to fund,” he said.
“Unlike a mortgage that has the house as security, and will return regular repayments, credit card debt has nothing to guarantee it will be paid back.”
Tags: australians, credit card debt, credit card rates, official rates increased
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