Speaking to Today’s Zaman, Kaya said on Wednesday that following recent complaints from customers, separate courts have concluded that banks do not have the right to charge annual fees on credit cards. “However, banks still continue to do so as they are reluctant to relinquish a significant amount of revenue every year,” Kaya said, noting that recent data have shown Turkish banks earned some $1.2 billion in revenue over credit card annual fees in the first 10 months of 2009.
Reiterating that the annual bank charges on credit cards are not legal, the union head said: “Banks defend themselves saying that the credit card contracts include mention of annual fees.
However, banks should know that the law requires the approval of the customer before they can charge these fees, and most banks do not inform their customers about the fees. Customers are right in refusing to pay the fees, he said.
“Customers should exercise their rights. They can ask their bank to cancel the credit card or go to a consumer court; they will prevail in the end,” he said.
“Some 20 million credit card users have to pay these fees, which vary between TL 25 and TL 60 at the end of the year,” Kaya said, adding that his union receives around 400,000 complaints annually over this issue alone.
