I cut my credit card up ’cause I’m not interested

CUTTING up my credit card into little 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 which 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.

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

The letter 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.

But alas, I needed to pour myself a stiff drink and grab a pair of matchsticks to keep my eyes open 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.

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.

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. 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.