Banks charge a fee for not using a certain credit card limit

Dealers with free-of-charge credit cards confirmed that their banks deducted amounts ranging from AED 350 to AED 500 per year, for not using a certain limit of the card, as purchases throughout the year.

They explained to Emirates Today that the employees of these banks have already confirmed to them that there are no annual fees or hidden fees, and that they are required to pay the value of use as purchases within 45 days according to custom.

In turn, two banking experts said that credit cards that do not include fees, usually linked to a certain spending limit, stressing that this item is in the terms of use and signed by the customer.

The banks charge this fee to urge the credit card holder to use it and take advantage of the benefits it offers in restaurants, hotels and shopping malls, since there are agreements between banks and those entities, therefore, not to use the card will not be beneficial to the participating parties.

Customer Complaints

In detail, the customer «WJA» said he was surprised to deduct the amount of AED 350 of his credit card, and when contacting the customer service center told the bank employee that the amount of an annual fee if not used AED 5000, a minimum annual card.

He stressed that the bank employee did not inform him when contracting about this condition, nor did he read the terms of the contract, being very small, mostly in English.

For his part, the trader «Sharafuddin S.» that the issuing bank credit card deduction of 500 dirhams, after the inquiry found a condition for free, which is the use of a minimum of 10,000 dirhams annually. Sharafuddin pointed out that he did not read this item, at a time when the employee did not clarify this when contracting.

He said that the banks appear in this practice as if they impose a fee on the committed customer, to pay him to spend more and then default, and impose more fees on it, pointing out that the use of the card is small and linked to his needs at the end of the month and before the salary, a period in which consumption is not high.

As for the customer «Abdullah.K», he also confirmed that his bank deducted 400 dirhams, a fee for not using the card, without any explanatory messages, pointing out that he learned then that the discount as a result of not using the minimum guarantee that the card remains free, which is AED 5000

He explained that he was aware of this condition but did not calculate the amounts he spent over a year, with the difficulty of keeping receipts. Similarly, the customers' statements of Saad and Abdul Rahim K were identical to their counterparts, as 300 dirhams were deducted from the first and 450 dirhams from the second for the same reason.

Terms Booklet

The banking expert Ali Darwish said that banks offer customers free cards without fees for a year, for example, or more, in return for commitment to a minimum spending, in the form of purchases, may be 5000 or 10,000 dirhams, according to the agreement.

He continued: «If the use of credit card below the agreed limit, there is an annual fee, which is also predetermined, and is supposed to know the customer of the terms of the contract, or booklet terms of use attached to the card».

Darwish pointed out that the annual fee for non-compliance with the minimum purchase, comes to urge the cardholder to take advantage of its advantages in shopping malls, airports, hotels and other parties that have contracted with the bank, therefore, the lack of use makes such partnerships useless for both parties.

In order to avoid fees, the cardholder can use the card as purchases, and then pay 100%.

Read items

In turn, the banking expert, Sheikha Al-Ali, said that the mistake made by most of the dealers with banks, is that they did not read the terms of the contract well.

She stressed that there are no free cards of fees 100% without conditions associated with them, such as the use of a certain limit, and this is what the customer should pay attention to, as he must read the terms of the contract well, even if laziness in the bank employee to inform him, or deliberately by hiding the order , For the sake of sales ratios.

Al-Ali pointed out that there are many advantages to free cards, especially if the entire user has been paid for them, which becomes without fees and interest.