Last updated at 11:00, Monday, 01 March 2010

Title
Author
Copyright

Description

Advertising feature. MBNA, the UK’s largest credit card provider, announced last week the launch of a new credit card named the ‘Rate for Life’ card. As the name suggests the card steers away from a 0% promotional period and instead offers a flat 5.9% interest rate for the life of a balance transfer. In addition, MBNA have also lowered the balance transfer fee to 1.5%.

The timing of the new card couldn’t be more appropriate with industry figures released earlier this month revealing that credit card interest rates are at a 12 year high of 18.8%. Over the last year, interest rates have risen on average by 7% and the number of promotional deals on the market has dropped dramatically as lenders look to protect themselves from bad debt.

Based on these figures, the MBNA ‘Rate for Life’ card definitely flies in the face of other credit card providers, taking the approach of more responsible lending which is popular topic at No. 10. But pressure from lobbyists and Government were not the motivation behind this card as Greg Reed, MBNA’s Chief Marketing Officer, explains: “We have listened hard to what customers want and I believe that this simplified, easy-to-understand, low rate card will have enormous appeal to customers.”

The ‘Rate for Life’ card is a venture into a new kind of credit card for MBNA and is a long way from rival deals and even MBNA’s own offerings. In recent years, the subsidiary of Bank of America has placed focus on the development of affinity cards such as their football credit cards range. But with the current economic climate and expensive credit costs, there’s no doubting that the ‘Rate for Life’ will appeal to a large portion of the 30 million UK credit card holders who are looking for a new deal.

First published at 11:37, Monday, 01 March 2010
Published by http://www.prudhoelocal.co.uk