Credit Card Rates & Bank Fees – A Market Insight

Whether borrowing money, transferring money, or just using your credit card, there are many different charges imposed on us by financial institutions.

Knowing exactly what they are charging us in the form of interest rates and credit card rates, can be slightly confusing. Now, the banks by law, have to make everything transparent for it’s customers, and that can only be a good thing.

Bank Charges and Fees

The amount that banks and other financial institutions charge you for borrowing money, in the form of interest rates, or charges for use of your accounts (bank fees) and even credit card rates, are normally decided by the institutions themselves.

These companies have a strict responsibility to be clear with it’s customers about the charges and fees applied to their accounts, and must not in any way mislead it’s them about the true cost of banking with them.

Credit Card Fees

When using your credit card to shop or buy certain services, it is not unusual for the merchant to charge you extra for paying with your credit card.<

This extra charge covers the cost the merchant pays out for their merchant service fees. This is what they pay in order to process credit card transactions.

Although not all companies or stores will make you pay a surcharge, those that do, have to let you the customer know about the extra charge before completing the transaction.

They must also let you know exactly how much extra that charge is going to cost you, and are not allowed to tell you the charge is equal to the merchant service fee they pay, unless it is factually correct.

Like the banks, merchants are responsible for being upfront and clear about any credit charge surcharges they apply.

“Uniform Consumer Credit Code”

There are fair trading laws,and these are normally looked after by specialist fair trading agencies or by regional consumer affairs.

Regional consumer affairs will also take care of the Uniform Consumer Credit Code. They are in charge of keeping a watchful eye on consumer lending.

Under the terms of the UCCC, customers are able to obtain information and documentation pertaining to loans, credit card rates, and other personal account information.

If you have fallen ill or lost your job, they can help you apply to change your repayment terms until you are in a better position.

Where the UCCC is not able to deal with “financial services” like the charging of credit card surcharges, interest rates etc, there are government agencies who are responsible for overseeing these kinds of services, and who make sure business to not get involved in unfair practices like price fixing or market sharing.

Who to go to if you Need Help

If you feel that you have in any way been unfairly treated or mislead by any financial institution, whether it was to do with bank fees, or a change in your credit card rates, then you can contact “The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority” on 1300 300 630, or visit their website FIDO.

• Comparison of Top 10 Credit Card Offers

Editor's Choice: Our Top Credit Cards

Credit Card	Card Details	Interest Rate (p.a.)	Cash Advance Rate (p.a.)	Balance Transfer Rate (p.a.)	Annual fee	Interest free days (up to)
HSBC Credit Card	Editor's Choice: 0% for 6 months Balance Transfer & No Annual Fee Featuring a $0 annual fee for life, and 0% p.a. balance transfer for 6 months, the HSBC Credit Card was voted the Best Transactor Credit Card for 2010.	16.99%	20.75%	0% for 6 months	$0	55
Suncorp Clear Options Standard Visa Card	A great 12 month balance transfer offer, combined with a low annual fee and a good interest rate on purchases.	12.24%	17.99%	1.9% for 12 months	$39	0