Credit Cards
A rate increase on a card can often be rejected
When an issuer raises the interest rate on an existing balance, many regimes give the customer a right to refuse and repay at the…
Credit Cards
Interest, minimum payments, transfers and the cost of the float.
21 articles · updated August 11, 2026 · page 2 of 2
Credit Cards
Money transfers from a card are not balance transfers
A card can send cash to your bank account, and that transaction sits in its own category with its own charges and risks.
Credit Cards
Deferred interest offers can bill the whole period at once
Some interest-free promotions are conditional, and failing the condition makes the whole deferred amount payable rather than only…
Credit Cards
Chargebacks are a scheme rule, not a legal right
The card network process that reverses a payment is powerful, time-limited and entirely separate from any statutory protection you…
Credit Cards
Authorisation holds make your available credit lie
Hotels, fuel stations and car hire desks reserve money on a card without taking it, and the reservation can outlast the transaction…
Credit Cards
Closing a card changes more than one number
Cancelling a card you no longer use removes available credit, shortens history in slow motion and occasionally solves nothing at…
Credit Cards
An annual fee only pays for itself under narrow conditions
A card that charges to exist can be worth it, but the arithmetic depends on spending patterns most holders do not actually have.
Credit Cards
Late and over-limit charges cost more than they charge
The fee is the small part. The marker on the file, the lost promotional rate and the knock-on charges are where the real cost sits.
Credit Cards
Add-on products sold with a card deserve a second look
Cover and services bundled with a credit account are sold at the moment of least attention, and their exclusions do most of the…