Card association disputes report findings
The UK Cards Association has contested allegations in a recent Which? Money report suggesting that credit card companies are exploiting consumers.
According to the Which? research, 28 providers have raised their interest rates over the past 12 months and many are accused of using loopholes to extract even more money from cardholders.
However, Paul Rodford, head of policy at the UK Cards Association, insists the report does not take into account a number of key mitigating factors.
He explains: "It's a feature of our very competitive marketplace that card deals change all the time so there's always a wide range of interest rates, cashback schemes and balance transfer deals to choose from."
Mr Rodford adds his own organisation's statistics suggest 60% of credit card holders pay off their balance in full every month so are unaffected by changing interest rates.
In addition, he slams the "erroneous" suggestion of a direct link between the base rate and APR, insisting this "has never been the case".
The Which? report claimed credit card rates have gone up by an average of 0.5% over the past year.
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