The average credit card has six attached fees, despite the increasing consumer preference for no fees at all.
This is according to a study by CreditCards.com released yesterday conducted by Harris Poll, which surveyed 100 general-purpose credit cards. These cards charge a combined 591 fees, with the most common being late payment and cash advance fees (99 and 98 cards charge for these, respectively).
The least-popular fee for credit cards to charge users was the over-limit fee, with only 4 out of the 100 cards surveyed charging for that service.
The First Premier Bank Mastercard charges the most out of the cards surveyed, with 12 attached fees, while the Pentagon Federal Credit Union Promise Visa charges the least, with only one fee.
The ‘fewest’ fees list also included three Capital One products, including its Platinum, Secured Mastercard, and Cash Select for Business Card. Each of these products had two attached fees.
While traditional credit products are sticking with their fees (not that this is surprising, with Americans paying $15 billion in overdraft fees alone per year), the trend for fintechs or challenger banks providing similar credit offerings and services is to go fee-free, or at least provide transparency on any fees charged.
Take a look at the full survey here.