Sunday, March 4, 2007

MBNA Sticks it to Consumers in the UK

I don't have hard data so I can't be assured of the accuracy of this story, but it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility... Credit card companies have always made a killing on people who are late or otherwise delinquent on their payments. Now there are reports that MBNA the huge American credit card issuer has been charging users who use their cards responsibly. British users who have a positive credit card balance from accidentally overpaying or paying twice in the same month have found they are being charged £10 if they don't reduce the positive balance. The policy has been spun - not surprisingly - as a measure to protect consumers against fraud. No word yet on if this policy will be transferred to United States card holders (luckily I don't use MBNA), but if I see anything about it I will let you know. Full story here.