Credit Card Comparison Report

The Office of fair trading has published a comprehensive report into credit card comparisons which make a series of recommendations to help consumers choose a credit card.

Teh report follows a complaint from Which? that highlighted that consumers are not aware of all the issues that effect the cost of the card when choosing them. OFT research has shown that around 70% of credit card holders did not shop around before selecting their current credit card.

The Research surrounding the report involved looking at issues regarding comparitive costs of using different cards for purchases, cash advances, introductory offers and payment allocations.

The research followed work with the credit card industry, consumer groups, other regulators, government bodies and other key stakeholders.

The main recommendations are :

• The introduction of an independent credit card price comparison website run by the FSA
• Improvement to how information is presented in credit card issuers’ summary boxes
• Standardisation of terminology used by credit card issuers in their product literature, and
• Improvements to consumer education about the benefits of shopping around for a credit card.

The full report can be read here.