Credit Card Machines 802 Blog

Mortgage And Credit Card Companies Under The Spotlight On
Consumer Charging
By R.Green

For the first time since May 1996 reports have indicated that
wage increases have risen faster than house price inflation.
According to Nationwide, "The overall picture remains one of a
gently softening market".

The signs indicate that the housing market activity is finally
starting to pick up, with estate agents reporting that buyers
have begun returning to the market and sellers are more willing
to negotiate on prices, however transaction levels are still
reported to be low compared with last year. This represents good
news for buyers looking to get a property, however it stands in
stark contrast to findings from the Council of Mortgage Lenders
(CML) ( http://www.cml.org.uk/ ) showing that the number of
homes being repossessed has risen for the first time in seven
years, from 3,070 six months ago up to 4,640 for the first half
of 2005.

The sharp rise in home repossession applications by lenders
adds to growing concerns that consumers are struggling with
debt. Ed Stansfield of Capital Economics, said, "Today's figures
show that for a small but growing minority of borrowers levels
of debt have become a problem, despite historically low interest
rates.” These figures for repossessions were still, according to
the CML, "extremely low" compared with the early 1990s; however
adverse credit, arrears and repossessions look set to rise.

Richard Brown, Chief Executive of personal finance comparison
site Moneynet ( http://www.moneynet.co.uk ) is disappointed to
recently see, in light of a possible base rate cut, which would
help to ease the burden of mortgage debt within the housing
market that, “many lenders are taking this opportunity to
increase their margins at the expense of their loyal savers by
reducing their fixed savings rates by more than the mortgage
rates”.

The personal debt problems of the nation have also not been
helped by the punitive charging activities of several of the
major lenders.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) ( http://www.oft.gov.uk/ ) has
warned eight of the major credit card firms regarding their
activities towards customers who miss payment deadlines or
exceed credit limits, and ordered them to reduce their
“excessive” and "disproportionately high" charges, usually in
excess of £20 per transgression, to consumers or face being
taken to court.

There are currently 30.6 million people in the UK possessing at
least one credit card, with a total of almost £60 billion owed
on them.

The credit card firms have defended the need for late payment
charges claiming that their use was fair, "Only a very small
proportion of customers attract a default charge and as a
responsible lender we must have a process in place to manage
late payments," a spokeswoman for RBS maintained. Which? have
determined that as many as one in four cardholders have been
subject to some form of default charge being imposed on them
within the past six months. With the number of people accruing
charges, the credit firms have admitted they are able to make
£400 million a year from default charges alone, and Barclaycard
has admitted that 43 per cent of its operating income is
generated from these fees.

The OFT have said that the sum being charged by companies is
far in excess of the actual costs to the card firms, for late
payment. "The levels of the default charges imposed by the
credit card companies need to be reduced in order to be fair".

Which? have seen the announcement by the OFT over the credit
card penalty charges not being fair, and the threats of court
action as, “great news”, but also wants other situations where
banks hit customers with unfair charges to also be looked into.

The Chief Executive of Money Advice Scotland, Yvonne Gallacher,
said of the prospect of reduced credit card fees: "This would
make a big difference to the thousands of low-income credit
cardholders who struggle to pay off these fees and charges."

Moneynet is not so optimistic for consumers, and advises for
caution following the OFT announcement, warning that credit card
companies may be looking to increase their profits via
alternative ‘stealth’ charges, “We are concerned that credit
card providers may simply attempt to recoup their lost income
via higher charges for all…Moneynet recommends credit card
customers consider their options before taking out a card -and
take into account all charges as well as the headline interest
rate”, said Richard Brown.

Some moves seem to be getting made to help those most at risk,
but these measures seem to be mainly driven by increased levels
of consumer dissatisfaction, and while house prices still look
expensive compared with incomes, the worst off may not feel a
huge change in their circumstances for some time to come.

About the Author: Richard lives in Edinburgh, occasionally
writing for the personal finance blog Cashzilla (
http://cashzilla.blogspot.com/ ), and staring out the office
window when he should be working.

Source: http://www.isnare.com