The reasons why I cut up my credit card

CUTTING up my credit card into multiple pieces helped me relieve some stress. No, I wasn’t sick of paying interest on my card, I was annoyed with my card provider.

CUTTING up my credit card into multiple pieces helped me relieve some stress.

No, I wasn’t sick of paying interest on my card, I was annoyed with my card provider.

One of the nation’s biggest supermarket chains who provide plastic had announced in a friendly little email they were changing the fine print on my credit card statement.

Just recently I was boasting how happy I was with my card provider, well how things can change quickly.

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An email arrived in my inbox informing my card provider was being taken over by a new bank and while it was relatively upbeat, when you get correspondence like this you should always approach it with some cynicism.

Credit cards can end up being expensive if you don’t pay them off in full each month.

The letter happily stated I could continue to use my card “in the same way you currently do,” but my credit contract and rewards program was about to change.

And with a longwinded explanation about what this meant for me it then directed me to another link, which I decided I’d better click on.

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But alas, I needed to pour myself a stiff drink and a grab a pair of matchsticks to keep my eyes open and then proceed to read six PDF documents totalling 59 pages.

This is why customers are often left irate … so much information and too much time spent actually trying to decipher what on earth is going on.

Trying to decipher the terms and conditions on credit cards can be confusing.

For someone like me who lives and breathes personal finance it’s painful enough, so goodness help those who wouldn’t even bother opening the email.

So in short the changes included my interest-free days reducing from 62 to 55 days.

And to make things very confusing I was told this:

“Your payment due date will also change. Currently it is the same day in every month. It will change to become 25 days after your last statement date (or the next business day if it would otherwise not be on a business day).

This change means the payment due date will no longer fall on the same date in each month.”

Well confuse me, change the deal I’m on and there’s one way to fix you.

Credit cards can cause cardholders stress if they are not paid off in full because they often attract interest rates around 20 per cent.

Gonski.

Last week I phoned up my credit card provider and told them enough was enough.

It was here that the call centre operator decided to try and talk me out of closing my account.

Um, no thanks, I wasn’t interested.

I’d had the same credit card for about six years and realised a change is as a good as a holiday.

In truth I don’t think my provider really cared, I’ve never paid a cent in interest (apart from one mishap) so goodbye credit card.

While I’m switching to a new card and only using it for work expenses, the key things for cardholders to know is — always read the fine print and if you’re not happy with what’s on offer vote with your feet.

Snip, snip. Goodbye plastic.

@sophieelsworth

Originally published as The reasons why I cut up my credit card