Banks to reimpose annual fee on new credit cards

Getting a new credit card now could become more expensive. Banks are looking to reimpose an annual fee on new credit cards.

The fee could be anywhere between Rs 250 to Rs 500 per card.

Bankers say that with mounting credit card defaults over the last one year, it has become necessary to consciously cut down on issuing new cards.

Also, with a large number of cards going out of circulation either due to defaults, or due to termination by customers, bankers say charging the fee will help protect their margins.

There is an annual fee on some cards already.

Currently, the platinum card customers are being levied an annual fee of around Rs 2,000-6,000.

With contracting volumes, bankers are increasingly finding the need to levy or re-impose the annual fee on new credit cards.