70 percent hike in credit card annual fees: 'They should be abolished'

Charging annual fees for credit cards was legalized under the provisions of the "Regulation on Fees to be Charged to Financial Consumers," which was issued in accordance with the Law on the Protection of Consumers No. 6502 and published on October 3, 2014.

Certain conditions were also imposed on banks. Primarily, the credit card must be actively used, the credit card must not have remained inactive for 180 days, the annual fee to be charged must be a reasonable amount, the cardholder's consent must be obtained, and the bank must offer consumers an alternative card without an annual fee. However, it has been learned that while the recent hikes imposed by private banks on annual fees undermine the reasonable fee condition, the requirements for consent and offering a card without an annual fee are also being ignored.

"THERE ARE 103 MILLION ACTIVE CREDIT CARDS IN TURKEY"

A 70 percent hike was applied to credit card annual fees, which are collected once a year, raising the cost up to 1,500 TL. Consumers Association (TÜDER) President Levent Küçük said, "This year, private banks generally increased credit card annual fees by between 50 and 70 percent. There are 103 million active credit cards in Turkey. An annual fee exceeding 30 billion TL will be reflected on these cards this year."

Speaking to Sabah, Küçük said, "This year, private banks generally increased credit card annual fees by between 50 and 70 percent. There are 103 million active credit cards in Turkey. An annual fee exceeding 30 billion TL will be reflected on these cards this year."

Pointing out that there are 103 million credit cards actively used in Turkey, Küçük said, "A very large economic scale is being created here in favor of the banks. Currently, bank annual fees vary between 400 and 1,500 TL. Private banks, in particular, reflected a 50 to 70 percent hike on annual fees this year. In other words, they ignored the reasonable fee condition."

Küçük said, "When we exclude credit cards without annual fees, a total of over 30 billion TL in annual fees will be charged to citizens this year. One-third of the complaints we receive consist of credit card annual fee complaints. These annual fees should be abolished entirely."

News Source: 12punto