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.

Amex customers could pay for not using their credit cards is a post from: Credit Cards Web

According to reports credit card and financial giant American Express is increasing interest rates for customers that miss a repayment, and those that do miss their repayment could see their interest rate increase by up to 4 percent.

This means that someone paying an APR of 19.9 percent on their American Express card who then misses a repayment could see their rate increased to 23.9 percent. The only way that the customer will be able to drop back down to the original rate again will be to agree to cancellation of the account, which then reassures the lender that the consume will not be spending any more on the card.

Officials from American Express have said that they use a range of measures to ensure that consumers do not miss repayments in the first place, such as sending reminders, and that the increased interest rate was a last resort measure that was being used. They also said that they advise customers to set up direct debits for repayments to further minimise the chances of missing a repayment and being penalised.

However, this did not pacify one angry customer who said that he had an otherwise perfect repayment record that had not been taken into account by the card provider. He said: ‘American Express said it was acting responsibly, but how can increasing interest rates for people struggling with their payments be seen as responsible?’ In the meantime the credit card giant has not disclosed how many of its customers have been moved onto higher rates of interest so far.

Missed repayment could mean hiked rates from American Express is a post from: Credit Cards Web

However, one credit card provider has caused disappointment by reducing the level of cash back that new cardholders can earn.

Credit card giant, American Express, has changed the cash back policy on its platinum credit card, which is one of its popular credit card types. The credit card pays 5 percent cash back on purchases for the first three months to account holders. In the past the cash back level was capped by American Express at £200. However, the credit card company has now changed the rules so that new customers will have their cash back level capped at just £100.

Officials have said that the 5 percent cash back that is offered by American Express on the platinum card is a good level of cash back given the amount of cash back that is offered on many other similar cards. After the first three months the card offers 0.5 percent cash back on purchases up to the amount of £3,500. This rises to 1 percent cash back on over £3,500 and up to £10,000, and rises again to 1.5 percent cash back on any amount over £10,000.

American Express has recently found itself under fire because of some customers claiming that because it is not as widely accepted as Visa and Mastercard they have sometimes experienced problems using the card. However, American Express officials have denied that there is any problem using the card.

Cash back deal from American Express cut is a post from: Credit Cards Web

The astonishing interest rate has been applied by American Express on its British Airways Premium Plus credit card, resulting in the card becoming the most expensive one in Britain.

Industry officials are now worried that the interest rates that are being charged on some credit cards bear no relation whatsoever to the base interest rate. Although the base rate is now at its lowest level in the history of the Bank of England, which spans over three hundred years, having fallen to 1.5 percent, the interest rates being charged on some credit cards are sky high, with a range of credit cards charging over 35 percent interest to borrowers.

An official from the consumer campaign group, Which?, described the interest rate as ridiculous, stating: ‘This is over 30 times base rate. Credit card interest rates now bear no resemblance to Bank rates – it is just about what companies think they can get away with. Even at 19.9% it is far too high.’

The reason behind the sharp rise in the American Express card APR is that the lender has increased the annual fee that customers are charged – which is taken into account when calculating the APR on a card – from £120 per year to £150 per year.

An official from American Express stated: ‘We’ve held off making any fee increases, however the cost of providing these products has increased. Rather than reduce the benefits on offer, we’ve slightly increased the fee.”

AMEX interest rate rockets is a post from: Credit Cards Web

The report claims that American Express has doubled the amount of money that it wants repaid each month from some of its customers that have signed up to a low interest life of balance transfer credit card. The move could see many consumers being pushed into default as the effects of the global credit crunch and the recession continue to impact on household finances.

The move has caused concern amongst many that despite measures that were discussed between the credit card industry and government officials recently, credit card firms are still finding ways to get more money from borrowers in order to bolster their own finances at this particularly challenging time. The report claims that the minimum repayments on some of these life of balance transfer credit cards has been increased from 2.5 percent to 5 percent recently.

One official said that the move may be overlooked because it was only applied to existing customers and not new ones. He said: ‘If it doesn’t affect new customers, it doesn’t get published; nobody trackers the rates and agreements of existing customers. Undoubtedly, there are cases of customers losing out due to secretly raised rates, minimum repayments and cash advance fees. There has been an element of card providers changing agreements to bring in increased revenue steams lately. It’s almost as if they are looking at some customers as an ideal way of raising cash.’

One customer stated: ‘We think this is just underhand. We took out the cards because we thought the repayments would be set at a good rate. In fact, its outright discrimination. They should either make the changes for everyone across the board or none at all. People are being hard done by here.’

American Express Doubles Some Card Repayments is a post from: Credit Cards Web

Some industry officials have suggested that many of the people that are using their debit cards to make payment for shopping, day to day purchases, and Christmas shopping could actually end up missing out on a significant level of cash back or rewards by failing to use a rewards based or cash back credit card instead. In fact, it is estimated that some people could be losing out on several hundred pounds each year as a result of this.

Research was carried out by American Express with regards to spending habits of consumers when it comes to credit and debit cards, and officials from American Express suggested that many consumers that spend money on their debit card would be better off putting this money aside and then using a rewards or cash back based credit card. The consumer can then use the money put aside to pay the balance on the credit card, thus accruing cash back or rewards without being charged any interest.

One official from American Express said: “Each British household is paying out thousands of pounds a year on debit cards for everyday items such as supermarket shopping and petrol. Simply by changing the way they pay for these items, people could be earning themselves hundreds of pounds of free cash.”

Some could be wasting money by using debit cards instead of credit cards is a post from: Credit Cards Web