Credit card, the silent thief in your wallet or purse?
If you are a regular credit card user, either stand alone or debit, I have some disturbing news for you. There is a better than even chance that you have been over charged fees or overdraft interest or both in the last five years.
My message is short, but not so sweet, check your credit card and loan statements. Be especially vigilant if you have a credit card attached to your mortgage loan or line of credit. Set up your own spread sheet to track your credit accounts or purchase a reliable ready to use software program. But do it today, the longer you wait the more you are likely to be loosing.
Your next task will be get your money back. This task will be made easy if you have kept all your statements and use an accredited loan checking program. I suggest you go back at least five years if you can. It may even be worth ordering back statements from your credit card or mortgage loan provider. They will normally charge a fee and try to make it difficult for you, but remember they may owe you hundreds or thousands in over charged interest or incorrect fees.
The consumer watchdog ACCC huffs and puffs about competition keeping a lid on credit card interest rates and fees, but fails in my opinion to address the single biggest problem with credit cards. The blatant gouging of everyday consumers by credit card providers. Mistakes are commonplace amounting to thousands of dollars in some cases. Most will go undetected, as the Banks and other credit providers do their best to confuse and befuddle their customers with more and more complex statements and regular changes to conditions of use.
Beware when you get a letter from your financial institution that claims to be simplifying things for you. It is code for: “We want to make more profit out of you, but don’t want you to feel violated as we probe the delicate parts of your finances.”
So, read, attempt an understanding of the fine print and check your credit card and loan statements.