Summary Boxes for credit cards appear to be going down well. But the industry still has much to do.
All too often, it seems like the world of personal finance is full of doom and gloom. "House prices are going to crash", "We're not saving enough for our pensions"... the list goes on and on.
So it's good to point out something a bit more cheery now and then. Over the last year, one of the more welcome developments has been the introduction of Summary Boxes for credit cards. For the uninitiated, this is the radical step (well, radical for the financial services industry) of displaying the information about a credit card upfront, in an easy-to-understand table that can quickly be compared with other cards' tables. Genius!
According to a recent survey from banking payments group APACS, three-fifths of people (60%) claim that they would definitely read it before applying for a new card, while 32% reckon they probably would. I'm not quite sure what the remaining 8% are playing at!
There are further improvements on the way, so far as the Summary Box is concerned. A website has been launched to help people understand more about them. By the end of this year, additional information will be added, including the dates between which interest is charged on different transactions.
Also by the end of this year, we can expect to see warning statements on credit card statements about the dangers of only repaying the minimum monthly repayment, which can soon lead to spiralling debts for the unwary. APACS reckons that, each month, 11% of cardholders only make minimum repayments, and a hardcore of 3% do so every month.
Apparently, credit card companies are reluctant to add Summary Boxes to monthly statements. That's unfortunate, but perhaps it will come in time. It highlights that, although the industry has made a lot of progress in cleaning up its act, it needs to do much more to clean up its public image.
More: Find out about Summary Boxes | Grab a better credit card.
