Credit Cards Shamed Into Reducing Charges

Indeed, between 80% and 90% of store cards held by some 11.5 million customers charge more than 25%. But some retailers have jumped the gun realising that their sky-high charges couldn't last forever. Three store cards have already taken steps to trim back. Harvey Nichols has cut their interest from 28.5% to 21.9%, River Island has trimmed down from 29.9% to17.9% and Monsoon from 29.9% to 18.9%.

But who are the bad boys? Here is our Table of Shame:

TJ Hughes 30.9%
Faith Card 30.9%
Owen & Owen 30.7%
Burtons 29.9%
Dorothy Perkins 29.9%
East 29.9%
Evans 29.9%
HMV 29.9%
JD Sports 29.9%
Kwik Fit 29.9%
La Senza 29.9%
Laura Ashley 29.9%
Miss Selfridge 29.9%
Russell & Bromley 29.9%
Ted baker 29.9%
Topshop/Topmam 29.9%
Wallis 29.9%
Warehouse 29.9%
House of Frazer 29.3%
Bhs Gold Card 29.0%
Habitat 29.0%
Oasis 29.0%
Harrods 28.9%
Fenwicks 27.9%
Selfridges 27.6%
Bentalls 27.2%
Jaeger 27.1%
B&Q 26.8%
French Connection 26.8%
Argos 25.9%
Homebase 25.9%
New Look 25.9%

Note: Some of these cards do offer lower interest rates for payment by Direct Debits. Source: Competition Commission/Moneyfacts March 2006

These credit cards are operated by a number of large finance companies, the largest being GE Capital the American giant. The profits are shared between the card operator and the retailer who is often incentivised by being awarded a higher share of the profit if they hit certain key debt thresholds. This has encouraged stores to put immense pressure on shoppers to take cards out.

The Chairman of the House of Commons Treasury Committee, John McFall has accused retailers of putting profit before customers saying "If you buy a suit from one of the stores then you would expect the retailer to ensure that it was well made and reasonably priced. These principles do not seem to apply to their store cards".

Lets all hope that the action taken by the Competition Committee does the trick!

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