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"Amex customers could pay for not using their credit cards"

By admin | November 1st, 2009 | Credit Cards

Whilst many credit card customers may expect to pay fees and annual charges for having a credit card facility that they regularly use, it now seems that one credit card giant is planning to make money out of cardholders that do not use their credit cards.

In fact, consumers that have an American Express credit card that they no longer use could actually end up paying around £20 a year simply for not using the card.

The fee, which was highlighted by the consumer campaign group Which?, is classed as a dormancy fee, which as the name suggests is charged on accounts that have been left dormant.

The charges came into effect at the start of this month, and will be levied on all accounts that have not undergone any activity within a twelve month period. This could have an adverse effect for those that keep their credit cards for dire emergencies only, as if no emergency rises in twelve months they could end up paying £20.

Industry officials are now warning that anyone that has one of these credit cards and does not tend to use it other than very occasionally or never uses should consider their other options in order to ensure that they do not get charged the £20 for simply not using the card.

One option is to cancel the account altogether, which is an idea for those that have no intention of using the card. For those that want to keep a card for emergencies it is a good idea to find an alternative card that does not charge these dormancy fees.

Also, experts have suggested that anyone that has an outstanding balance on their Amex card but has no intention of using the card to make further transactions will be better off switching the balance from the existing card on a balance transfer deal to avoid these dormancy charges.

Tags: american express, american express credit cards, credit card charges

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