UAE credit card fees are “too high”

The credit market in the UAE needs to be re-organized because fees and interest rates imposed by local banks on these services are too high, according to the financial panel in the Federal National Council (parliament).

The panel’s coordinator Ali Al Nuaimi blamed the country’s 51 banks for their failure to clarify such services to their clients and for what he described as the ambiguity of agreements on granting credit cards to the customers.

“There is an imperative need to re-organize the credit card market in the UAE under the supervision of the Central Bank,” he told Emarat Alyoum daily.

“The rates on these cards and the profits made by the banks are considered too high compared with those in nearby countries and the global market.”

He said the Central Bank had managed to control personal loans and now needs to take action regarding the credit card services.

“The Central Bank has succeeded in curbing violations by banks in personal lending and should intervene urgently to control the credit card market,” he said.

The paper quoted Central Bank governor Sultan al Suwaidi as saying credit card services are under revision. But he stopped short from saying there would be any new rules governing those cards as was the case in personal loans.

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