Paul Smee, APACS Chief Executive, said:

“The OFT has today given its interpretation of the law. It has based its conclusions on information from just eight card companies; the rest of the market and APACS were not asked to participate. Therefore every individual card company will now have to consider whether it agrees with the OFT’s interpretation and whether the way in which its own charges are calculated is in line with the OFT’s approach.  This will not be straightforward and the individual companies have been given until the 31 May to undertake this.   

“Card companies have argued that the default charges that they have historically charged have been fair, transparent and lawful.  Any change will have no direct impact on the eight out of 10 people who don’t pay default charges in any one year. Reductions in default fees might be welcomed by some customers but it makes more sense to avoid these charges by simply setting up a direct debit to always pay off at least the minimum balance each month.”

Ends

Jemma Smith, Head of PR
Tel:  020 7711 6340                Email: jemma.smith@apacs.org.uk
Mobile: 07811 113075

Mark Bowerman, Communications Executive
Tel: 020 7711 6251           
Email: mark.bowerman@apacs.org.uk
Mobile: 07799 627256

Simon Bennett, Press Officer
Tel: 020 7711 6316                E-mail: simon.bennett@apacs.org.uk