Starting in just a day credit card providers will become subject to new rules and regulations in the UK.
The manner in which minimum balance repayments are made will need to be changed under the new rules. Additionally the measure of each repayment’s interest rate is set to be changed as well.
Industry experts predict that the soon-to-be-implemented changes will positively effect millions of UK consumers that have credit cards. The changes will see consumers paying their debt off more readily than in the past. Consumers also stand to spend less on interest due to the new regulations requiring the card provider to allocate repayment on not the cheapest debt but the most expensive one instead.
In the face of this good news however comes a warning to consumers that credit card providers may adopt clever tactics to continue to be profitable. Industry experts suspect card providers to hike interest rates up in order to turn a higher profit overall. Other possible tactics include adding on sneaky fees and charges.
The one change that will benefit consumers the most is the new requirement for card providers to apply repayments with priority to debts with higher interest rates. This could quite possibly seriously reduce the amount of interest consumers pay in 2011.
One industry expert remarked that despite the positive changes these new rules bring, consumers need to remain vigilant for suspect behaviour from credit card companies.
The industry insider stated that credit card providers have always been concerned with turning a profit. As a result the likelihood is high that these same companies will attempt to game the system to their advantage once the new rules go into effect.