Credit card borrowers have been warned that annual fees could become an increasingly common occurrence in the future.
Recently, financial services provider Barclaycard confirmed that it is weighing up the merits of introducing a £20 annual fee for borrowers who do not use their credit cards regularly.
Commenting on the news, David Black, head of banking at business intelligence specialist Defaqto, has suggested that this may prove to be a sign of things to come.
"My expectation in the years ahead is that there will be a gradual move towards annual fees in the credit card market," he said.
However, Mr Black added that if this transformation occurred, many credit card customers who are faced with annual fees will opt to "jettison credit cards in favour of using debit cards instead".
Recently, Barclaycard hit the headlines for a different reason when it unveiled a new green credit card.
People who take out the Barclaycard Breathe credit card have been assured that 50 per cent of profits made by the financial services provider will be distributed to environmental organisations across the world.
News Side
Credit card annual fees tipped to grow in popularity
Fri, 25 May 2007
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