AUSTIN, Texas—Two credit unions are highlighted in a new credit card survey—one for having a card that stands among those with the highest number of fees in the nation, and the other with the lowest.
According to CreditCards.com’s latest survey, Navy FCU’s Cash Rewards card carries nine potential fees, while Pentagon FCU’s Promise card comes with zero.
Overall, the survey shows that credit card issuers are showing an ever-increasing appetite for fees, with the average card carrying six different charges. The report also shows that across the nation credit card fee income is surging, going from $79.9 billion in 2013 to $90.3 billion in 2014.
According to the study, most of the fees are the standard ones—a fee for paying late or transferring a balance. “But some are surprising and can trip up unwary consumers,” CreditCards.com said.
The cards website surveyed a representative sample of 100 of the most widely held general-purpose cards on the United States. Key findings:
- Two cards from the subprime lender First Premier Bank come with 12 fees.
- The most-common fee is the late fee, charged by 99 of 100 cards. The fees range from $10 to $49, and the most common charge is $38, the maximum allowed for consumer cards under federal law. The $49 late fees are charged by Bank of America on its business cards, which are exempt from the protections consumers have under the act, CreditCards.com said.
- After the late fee, the other most-common fees are cash advance fees (charged by 98 cards), balance transfer fees (charged by 89 cards) and returned payment fees (81 cards).
- There are “oddball” fees too. They include account re-opening fees, returned check fees, overdraft protection fees, statement hard-copy fees, pay-by-phone fees, replacement card fees, expedited card shipping fees and stop-payment fees. First Premier imposes an automatic $25 fee on its customers when they qualify for and receive increased credit limits.
"Fees have become much more important as cardholder repayments are up and APRs have been down—a trend that began several years ago," Robert Hammer, founder and CEO of bank card advisory firm R.K Hammer, stated on Credit.Cards.com website. "Many turned to new fees to supplement their income post-regulations. They look and see, 'What can we charge that we don't charge for presently? What is permissible?' What they can charge, they will charge."