Consumers hit with “nasty surprises” in credit card deals

TotallyMoney commissioned research company OnePoll to survey 2,000 UK adults between January 20 and January 22, 2020. It found 10 percent got a card with a shorter zero percent period than advertised, while 11 percent said they received a higher interest rate than they applied for.

According to its findings, instead of rejecting some customers outright, lenders may deem a customer creditworthy enough to accept their application, but not creditworthy enough to grant them the deal that initially enticed them.

As a result, customers can receive a higher interest rate or shorter offer period than they anticipated.

Alastair Douglas, CEO of finance experts TotallyMoney, comments on the unsettling situation: “The positions people can find themselves in due to the way lenders mitigate risks are quite concerning. To apply for a product and be sold something completely different is a troubling situation and could throw someone’s financial plans into complete disarray.

“The harsh reality is that a 29-month zero percent balance transfer deal could be slashed to just 16 months, and the 19.9 percent interest rate advertised could be hiked to 34.9 percent. These are clearly very different products to what customers thought they would get.”