Egg recently shocked many of its cardholders after announcing that it was withdrawing credit card facilities from over 160,000 customers. Following the announcement Egg apologised for any problems caused, but customers on the hit list will still find that their credit cards will no longer work once the specified 35 day period is over. Egg has not demanded that the money be repaid right away, but has stated that customers must still maintain at least the minimum repayment on any outstanding balance in order to clear their cards.

In the apology one official from Egg said: “We are sorry some customers are upset after receiving notification we are ending their credit card arrangement, but they are people we do not feel it is appropriate to lend any money to.” He also said: “The decision was taken after an extensive one-off review of our credit card book following acquisition by Citigroup.”

After making the announcement Egg officials stated that the withdrawal of facilities applied to those customers who had let their credit slip since opening their Egg credit cards. However, many of the customers that were informed that their credit card facilities were being withdrawn have stated that they have excellent credit and their credit has not deteriorated since they opened their Egg credit cad accounts.

One MP described Egg’s move as unacceptable, but Egg officials stated that they have taken facilities from those that they do not feel it is appropriate to lend to any longer ‘regardless of their status’. Another MP has expressed concern that many banks are withdrawing credit card facilities from good payers and handing out credit to those that have to pay high levels of interest in order to make more money.