It has been revealed that a major credit card company has raised the annual rate on its credit cards to 46%, despite interest rates dropping to their lowest level in the Bank of England’s history.

American Express also increased its yearly fee on its British Airways Premium Plus card from £120 to £150 for existing customers. This increase has helped push up the annual percentage rate (APR) on the card by over 25% from 36.6% to 46%, which makes it the most expensive rate on the financial market.

Martin Saville, a credit card expert called the rates “ridiculous”. Saville stated: “This is over 30 times base rate. Credit card interest rates now bear no resemblance to Bank rate – it is just about what companies think they can get away with. Even at 19.9pc it is far too high.”

The British Airways Amex card is used by those who frequently travel. Its perks include 1.5 airmiles for each £1 spent and a free companion flight when airmiles are redeemed and the cardholder has spent more than £10,000 in a year.

An Amex spokeswoman commented that the fee remained unchanged for seven years: “We have held off making any fee increases. However, the cost of providing these products has increased. Rather than reduce the benefits on offer, we have made a slight increase to the fee.”

She furthered that the rates only seemed inflated because of rules forcing card providers to include yearly fees in the total cost of credit.

A study found that out of 240 credit cards, the average APR increased from 17.2% to 17.6% in the six months of November.

From Credit Card Climb to Card Cons

In Australia, a group of former fruit pickers has appeared in court charged over their alleged involvement in a credit card fraud organization.

Two of the accused appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court this week and four more later on. It is alleged the six who were previous fruit pickers found themselves without money and were recruited by a Malaysian credit card fraud gang.

The accused were then allegedly given fake credit cards and sent to Queensland shops to buy electrical good, gift cards and other items. Two of those arrested had expired visas.

Meanwhile, two Malaysians in Hanoi were sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of using fake credit cards.

The court heard how they went on a lavish shopping spree at Louis Vuitton and bought bags and suitcases almost US$6,000.

Tan Wei Hong and his associate were only court because a store assistant recognised him after he was caught previously using counterfeit cards.

Tan admitted how he had visited Vietnam on three occasions and used fraudulent cards to pay for US$17,000 worth of goods.