Credit card companies have bounced back by challenging a controversial report regarding their interest charging practices and have recommended that customers should go through the fine prints of their card agreements. The Australian Consumers Association (ACA) had asked fifteen banks and lending institutions to provide information regarding how they were charging customers’ interest on outstanding credit card debt.
ACA had found that customers were paying nearly double the normal interest rate in case they made a late payment or did not pay back the full amount. The report stated that the companies were charging interest in full amount purchases even if a portion of it was paid on time and the interest rate that was being charged started from the original purchase. In case cardholders had unpaid debt from the previous month they lost out on their interest free period on new purchases.
A number of companies responded to the report by saying that they had not come across the report or that the report took into consideration the minority customers whereas some said that they had stated the interest charges in their agreement.
