The Office of Fair Trading's (OFT) clampdown on credit-card charges last year has not prevented one in five customers feeling dissatisfied, a new report claims.
Price comparison website uSwitch.com's latest independent report on customer satisfaction found unhappiness with their credit cards among 6.6 million customers across the UK.
It claims Britain's lenders lost an estimated £300 million after the OFT capped credit card penalty fees at £12 last year.
Since then banks have taken incremental action to recoup their lost earnings. HSBC has increased its balance transfer fee from two per cent to 2.5 per cent, Egg has raised its standard purchase APRs by one per cent and Lloyds TSB has introduced a £35 fee if customers do not actively use their cards.
Mike Naylor, uSwitch.com personal finance expert, said the research found customers were failing to act by comparing different offers available to them.
He blamed "customer lethargy" for cardholders staying with the same provider for an average of six years.
"Providers have spent the last year constantly introducing 'get rich quick schemes' for their own benefit yet customers are still prepared to stick with them for years," he said.
"With over half of consumers never comparing their existing deal with the rest of the market, clearly people are playing directly into… [lenders'] hands."
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