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Banking and Cards Research

Digging into the Customer Experience: Banking and Credit Cards

Corporate Insight’s Bank Monitor, Credit Card Monitor and Small Business Card Monitor provide ongoing coverage of the products, websites and overall customer experience offered by the nation’s leading banks and card issuers. Our value-added banking and credit card research digs deeply to evaluate the retail and small business customer experience.

Credit Card Fees PDF Print E-mail
Credit card fees are a significant factor for consumers distinguishing among various card options. Credit card terms and conditions and fee schedules state how much a client will be charged for various card transactions and infractions, which can impact the true cost of card usage to new applicants. In this edition of Credit Card Monitor Report, we investigate the main credit card fees currently charged by each Credit Card Monitor firm and how they compare to those of last year at this time.

In this Credit Card Monitor Report we looked into credit card fees and additional charges associated with a number of credit card products offered by each issuer. As we investigated a representative grouping of cards by each issuer to show overall trends, we focused on the following fees:
  • Annual Fee
  • Minimum Finance Charge
  • Balance Transfer Fee
  • Convenience Check Fee
  • Cash Advance Fee
  • Late Fee
  • Over Limit Fee
  • Foreign Transaction Fee
  • Returned Payment Fee
Of the cards currently promoted online among the 10 credit card firms tracked by Credit Card Monitor, 57 cards carry an annual fee, up from 52 last year, with 75% of these fee-carrying cards being co-branded travel cards. Among these cards, the lowest fee is $19 a year, while five cards carry an annual fee of over $100.
All of the credit cards examined in this report list a very vague Late Payment fee as “Up to $35” without listing any other specifics. Additionally, Returned Payment Fees for all firms but one are listed as “Up to $35” as well, with the one outlying firm listing the fee as “Up to $25.”

One firm no longer charges Foreign Transaction Fees for any cards offered, making it the second large issuer tracked by Credit Card Monitor to do away completely with this fee. While two firms may not charge a Foreign Transaction fee, all firms covered in this report do charge for a Cash Advance or Balance Transfer, with fees ranging from 3%-5% per transaction.

Additional key findings include:
  • Two firms asses the highest Minimum Finance Charge fee of $2, while one Credit Card Monitor firm offering credit card products with no minimum finance charge.
  • Currently, no Credit Card Monitor firms tracked issue an Over Limit fee due to 2010 legislation.
 
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