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Costly Credit Card Late Fees

Using data from a cross-section of major and minor card issuers, online credit card debt and fees research Index Credit Cards found that late and over-the-limit fees ranged from $0 to $39 these days. However, most nationwide issuers charged between $29 and $39 in both categories (late and over-the-limit). Index Credit Cards offers credit card news, research, calculators, and claims the most comprehensive index of credit cards available on the Internet today.

In addition, several ?no-fee? cards have stipulations that make them less attractive beneath the surface, such as requiring the card to be used for purchases each month, or significantly raising interest rates when multiple payments are late. Justin McHenry, Research Director for ICC, says ?Over-the-limit fees aren?t quite as high, but to many cardholders, they?re even more galling, the logic being that a card should simply be rejected if it hits the limit. Instead, it may or may not be rejected, but the fee will always be applied.?

The ICC has a listing of over 900 credit cards as well as categorized information based on credit card and loan interest rates, rewards programs for loyal customers, business credit cards, student credit cards and credit cards for those with poor or no credit histories. The ICC tracking report is purported to be the first in what will be a quarterly analysis of credit card fees available online, at the website of Index Credit Cards itself. It complements the site?s other original credit card research, including the weekly Credit Card Monitor, which tracks credit card interest rate trends around the United States.