Credit Card Companies Ignore Base Rate Cut

While mortgage borrowers will have to wait and see if they stand to benefit from today's 1.5% cut in interest rates, credit card customers have been told not to expect repayments to fall.

Although the Bank of England has slashed the base rate to 3%, consumers look set to continue to pay an average APR of more than five times that figure, according to financial data firm Moneyfacts.

It puts the average APR on a credit card at just under 17% and said it is unlikely to change as a result of the base rate reduction.

"I doubt we will see lenders cutting rates on credit cards," said spokeswoman Michelle Slade. "Usually lenders only cut rates to attract customers."

Slade said the Co-operative Bank is the only lender that currently offers cards with an APR directly linked to the Bank of England base rate. Borrowers on its Gold and Platinum cards will all benefit from a full 1.5% reduction in their interest rate, although the £120 annual fee on the Gold card means the APR will still be a fairly hefty 19.4%.

The cut will also be passed on to those customers who are still holding the now withdrawn base rate tracker cards which Co-op offered through Northern Rock and Yorkshire building society.

The UK's biggest card provider, Barclaycard, which currently charges a rate of 14.9% on the majority of its product range, said it would not be adjusting rates as a result of today's announcement.

A spokesman said: "The primary factor in our pricing is risk, not the cost of money, so the cut will not have an immediate effect."

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