New credit card fees increase costs, raise your total debt and make credit more expensive to use, but you can limit your loss.
New fees introduced by a credit card company often include an annual fee for being a cardholder and fees for not being an active credit card user, referred to as “inactivity” fees.
Talk to the Credit Card Company:
You can contact the credit card company by phone and request the removal of a new annual fee or an inactivity fee you were charged. Some credit card companies will waive an inactivity fee or suspend an annual fee for an account holder with a good payment history to keep the holder as a customer. Checking your history with the company, such as how many years you’ve had the credit card and your payment record, before you call helps you present information to support your good standing as a customer.
Write to the Credit Card Company:
A phone call is not always direct enough to get your credit card company’s attention. Not all representatives have the authority to reverse imposed fees, and you may not be able to get the reason for the new fees over the phone. You can write a letter to the “customer service” address for your credit card company and ask for the reasoning behind the new fees on your account. Your letter should highlight your history as a good customer with the company and your dissatisfaction with the new charges.
Take Your Business Elsewhere:
Another credit card company may be willing to offer you better rates and lower fees than your current creditor to get your business. Some types of perks cards, such as “reward” cards, are more likely to carry annual fees to cover the cost of the rewards, so read any offers of new credit you get carefully. Multiple requests for credit over a short period of time negatively impact your credit score, so limit your applications to avoid harming your score.
Contact the Regulatory Department:
You should consider contacting the federal regulatory department responsible for your credit card company if the company is assessing new fees in amounts that exceed federal or state laws or if it is calculating the fees incorrectly. The Federal Reserve Board has a list of federal regulatory agencies categorized by the type of institution regulated available for viewing on its official website.