Harder Life for Credit Card “Rate Tarts”
August 18th, 2005 | POSTED BY ROB
Those who enjoy saving money by chasing 0% interest deals on credit cards (so-called “Rate Tarts”) will find things getting tougher than they used to be, as credit card firms are increasingly trying to get their money back.
Rivalry between credit card firms led to an abundance of such deals, but as the market matures, the credit card companies are attempting to reduce the costs of providing these deals, and so some of the big boys, such as Barclaycard, Egg and MBNA, now charge for balance transfers.
The good news for consumers is that experience from the more mature U.S. market suggests that there will always be a place for these sorts of deal, although they might not be as easy to find as they used to be.
