Credit Card Rate Tarts Theory Unfounded

The notion that the British credit card owners are a nation of “Rate Tarts” seems to be a little unfounded, as Morgan Stanley’s credit card index has stated that the great British public are more loyal than they are given credit for, as the majority of credit card customers have been with the same credit card issuer, for 6 years or more before they would generally consider switching to another lender.

The fact that the credit card customers of Britain are also becoming tired of jumping from one 0% deal to another, suggests that they are either sick and tired of the constant switching and having to keep an eye on dates so not to incur the wrath of the interest charges that they have been trying to avoid, or they are just showing that they are a more loyal bunch who prefer to commit to a credit card for the long term.

If you are going to be cenacle, you could say that the introduction of the fees that the credit card companies are now charging for to change to a 0% balance transfer facility, has changed the mind of many of the “Rate Tarts” out there, but the research done by Morgan Stanley shows that of the 30 million credit cards held by the British public, only 8% of those card holders will be looking to switch credit cards in the coming 3 months.

They also showed results that in the previous month, most of the credit card holders who jumped ship from their current credit card to a new issuer, done so after being with their old credit card company for on average six and a quarter years, with the marketing director of Morgan Stanley consumer banking Patrick Muir, suggesting that the research seems to show that the customer has started to wise up, to the fact that the 0% short term deals are not what they are all cracked up to be and that is why the majority of the credit card customers who are looking to switch cards to look for a better long term deal.

It has also been suggested that credit card companies are looking to introduce charges for making a transaction, as they seek to claw back the money that they have lost over the last few years to the “Rate Tarts”, either that or the credit card company greed factor is on the way back, only this time the customer wont be able to take advantage the way that they could with the 0% balance transfer deals.