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25 June 2007
According to a recent report over a fifth of all credit card users in the UK are actually dissatisfied with their credit card provider.
Although credit cards are still very popular and regularly used, this figure equates to over one fifth of consumers with credit cards expressing dissatisfaction with their credit card provider.
Customers are urged to look at switching credit card providers if they are unhappy with their existing card provider, but many fail to do this for one of a range of reasons, such as apathy, loyalty, or limited choice due to credit or other problems.
The study was conducted by a UK price comparison website, and shows that around twenty one percent of cardholders are unhappy with their credit card providers.
Last year financial regulators in the UK ruled that credit card companies could charge no more than twelve pounds for a penalty fee, whereas some had previously charging close to forty pounds per fee. However, despite this ceiling limit many remain unhappy with their cards for reasons such as poor customer service from staff and high interest rates.
Despite these levels of dissatisfaction, however, a surprising number of cardholders do not take any action to switch to a more suitable provider.
One official from the site that carried out the research explained that often consumers do not bother comparing credit cards in order to find a better deal, and this was leading to increased costs for the cardholder and increased profits for the credit card company.
He stated: "Credit card companies are relying on customer lethargy, and, with over half of consumers never comparing their existing deal with the rest of the market, clearly people are playing directly into their hands. This is allowing credit card providers to treat their customers like money-making cash cows and to completely disregard customer satisfaction."
One consumer stated: "Cardholders that are not happy with the service provided by their card issuer, or with the interest rates charged, can easily switch cards if their credit rating is decent. This could mean switching to a cheaper interest rate, which saved me a fortune on my repayments, and I enjoyed a better level of service with my new card provider."
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