Consumers 'hit by credit card cash withdrawal fees'
Published On 2 October 2007
Credit card customers are being charged large fees for withdrawing money from cashpoints, a new report has warned.Website moneysupermarket.com found that Brits use credit cards to withdraw £8.3 billion from cash machines every year.
However, the website warned that consumers are being charged huge fees to do this.
In fact, the report calculated that, for every pound withdrawn using credit cards, 27p is levied in charges and fees by the provider.
"People should think very carefully before using their credit card to take out cash," warned Rob Kenley, head of credit cards at moneysupermarket.com.
"At a cost of up to 27p for every pound taken out, this is an exceptionally expensive way to spend. The real killer is the cash withdrawal fee of between £2.50 and £5 on most cards.
"Wherever possible you should only withdraw cash from your current account, but we realise sometimes people face unexpected emergencies. If you run out of money but still need to make purchases, then using a credit card with 0 per cent on purchases is much more cost effective."
Figures from Credit Action indicate that credit card borrowing in the UK increased by 5.5 per cent in the last year and now stand at £215 billion.
