For many people, their credit card appears to be free. Apart from the interest they pay on their outstanding balance at the end of each month, they do not pay any other fees for the convenience of the credit card. While this may be true for some people, for many of them their credit card provider will in fact be charging them various fees. For others it may not be true at all as they have to pay a monthly or annual fee for their credit card.

Credit card fees can come from a variety of sources. The most basic is that the credit card company simply charges a monthly fee for the card. This can be a result of your having a particularly bad credit rating, but in fact, there are some very financially healthy people who pay these credit card fees. This is because some credit card providers charge these fees on their most exclusive and attractive cards, it is a payment that qualifying customers must make if they are to be granted access to the best rates and terms and conditions.

There are also fees for certain specific types of transactions. Some companies charge fees for using credit card checks. There is usually a fee for using your card abroad, especially if you use it to withdraw cash, and there are certain other types of transactions that will incur an extra fee depending on the policies of your specific card provider.

The most hated fees of all however, are the various fines and penalties that credit card companies impose on their customers for failing to fulfil certain conditions. If you are late on a payment, or do not meet the minimum payment level, you will be charged a fine from you credit card company. One thing you should be aware of with such fines is that once they have been levied on you, they cannot form the basis of future late payment fines. That means that if you do not pay the fine within one month, you cannot be fined again for this, so long as you have paid the minimum amount due on your bill.

With all these various charges, it may not be surprising to learn that credit card companies probably earn just as much money from the fees they charge for various services as they do from the interest they charge you on your monthly outstanding balance.