Credit card companies treat their customers fairly, according to research recently conducted by Auriemma Consulting Group (ACG), a consultancy specialising in the lending and payments industry. Further, consumers are unlikely to find the benefits afforded to them by recently introduced consumer rights and regulations to have little impact on the way they use credit cards. In fact, the study’s findings show that consumers have been treated fairly by the credit card industry for some time, and that consumers feel valued by their credit card company.

In June 2010, ACG conducted a web survey of 508 credit card users in the UK as part of its quarterly Cardbeat study. This survey included several questions about how recent efforts by credit card issuers to increase the transparency of their practices were perceived by consumers and if the outcomes of these efforts has an impact on the way that they use and think about credit cards. Transparency is a key element required by industry regulations like Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) as well as the new customer rights introduced in response to the recent consultation on credit and store cards conducted by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS).

The results of the study clearly indicate that consumers believe that credit card companies are treating them fairly and appropriately, throughout the lifecycle of the account. Key findings from the research include:

- 94% of credit card users believe that their credit card company treats them fairly currently.

- 84% of credit card users said that they had experienced no change in their perception of how fairly their credit card company treated them over the past year.

- 82% of credit card users feel that their credit card company values them as a customer.

Megan Bramlette, a managing associate at ACG says, “Over the past year, the payments industry has introduced proactive tactics and strategies to convey the message of TCF to the consumer. These findings imply that consumers felt that they were being treated fairly prior to the introduction of the regulations and consumer rights, and that these strategies really only succeeded at reinforcing an existing sentiment.”

One of the most notable outcomes of the emphasis placed on financial transparency by regulatory and governmental authorities is the reduction in consumers’ access to credit. To combat the challenges realised by economic pressure and the introduction of expensive-to-implement rules and constraints, credit issuers have been forced to reduce credit lines and increase the cost of the credit issued (i.e. APR). Interestingly, these restrictions in credit accessibility have also occurred during the past year, when a majority of consumers indicated that they were being treated fairly by their credit card company. Bramlette says, “It is clear that most credit card users do not equate access to credit with being treated fairly. We can conclude that the credit card issuers’ actions to rein in commercial exposure did not result in any lost equity from consumers.”

It is important to note however, that most consumers do not give much thought to their credit cards. 81% of consumers said that they generally only think about their credit card company when things go wrong with their account or level of customer service received is unsatisfactory. Consumers consider their credit cards to be a commodity – an item that doesn’t command much attention or consideration except during a crisis.

Regulation is expected to continue to affect the British (and international) payments industry. Experts may disagree on what aspects of the industry are ripe for regulation, but all agree that there will be significant costs associated with implementing new rules and constraints. At least some of the burden of these forthcoming constraints will be felt by consumers, as issuers will need to mitigate risk and remain profitable in order to continue to issue credit. However, the benign reaction that consumers have had in reaction to constraints on credit accessibility indicates that issuers have additional ability to restrict credit without facing significant backlash from consumers.