AmEx imposes increase in penalty charges
American Express has raised its charges for customers who miss payments for the second time this year.The misdemeanours will now lead to a penalty of £12, up £2 from their previous level. Prior to the increases, AmEx had cut its charge to £8, following the publication of a report from the Office of Fair Trading. The body had said that such penalties were overpriced, and that it would consider launching legal action against credit card providers that imposed fees of over £12. However, a spokesperson for AmEx defended the firm's latest move, pointing out that it merely brought its charges in line with other providers. "These increases reflect a rise in our administration costs associated with handling accounts in default," she told the Guardian. "Our fees are in line with recommendations made by the OFT in April 2006," she added. Also speaking to the newspaper, Moira Haynes at Citizens Advice commented: "[We] helped people with more than a million debt problems last year, and a large proportion of those people have seen their debt increased by late payment charges."
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