Card penalties 'hit one in four'

[Kafka]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6914076.stm

[Amethyst]

Card penalties 'hit one in four'

Penalty fees have been capped at £12

One in four credit card customers has had to pay a penalty fee in the past year, a survey suggests. Customers pay out an estimated £230m a year in penalty fees, says financial website Moneysupermarket.com, which conducted the survey of 2,116 people.
Penalty fees are imposed by card firms when customers miss a repayment.
Last year, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said card penalty fees were "disproportionately high" and imposed a £12 fee cap on card providers.
Since the price cap was imposed all providers have lowered their penalty fees.
However, the fees are still providing a source of income for card issuers.
"Penalty fees still affect a significant proportion of the population and providers are raking in some hefty cash, even after the Office of Fair Trading-imposed £12 cap," said Rob Kenley, head of credit cards at Moneysupermarket.com.