OFT recommends credit card shake-up

Posted on 11 February 2008

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Consumers should be helped to shop around when choosing a credit card, an Office of Fair Trading (OFT) report says.

Its recommendations include improving the information available to customers, and the setting-up of a credit card price-comparison website to be run by the Financial Services Authority.

The report is the result of the OFT's investigation into a co-called super-complaint brought by consumer group Which, driven by concerns that consumers choose credit cards without fully understanding their costs. Research commissioned by the OFT found that only 32% of users had compared the cost of cards when choosing their most recent one, while another 32% simply chose the card recommended by their bank.

"No-one wants to throw money away," said OFT chief executive John Fingleton, "but consumers who don't shop around for credit cards are doing just that."

"It is essential that consumers are given the right tools to make comparisons between credit cards more easily, and we can achieve this through some of the recommendations announced today."

Category: Personal finance, Regulation

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