Credit-card annual fees are becoming more prevalent
Even before President Barack Obama signed credit-card reform into law, banks were already trying to impose annual fees on more of their cardholders. The evidence comes from Synovate’s Mail Monitor, which tracks direct-mail solicitations.
The number of credit-card offers dropped by 67 percent between the first quarter of last year and the same period this year. But the proportion of offers with annual fees went up, to 27 percent from 18 percent.
Some bankers, as I wrote in a recent column, are predicting that their best, most responsible customers will bear the brunt of new fees, but that doesn’t appear to be happening yet. Only 24 percent of rebate card offers — presumably the most attractive to people who pay off their balances every month — carried annual fees, compared with 42 percent of non-rebate card offers.
Thanks to Bill Hardekopf, president of LowCards.com, for pointing me to this data. Between now and next February, when the credit-card law takes effect, he advises paying close attention to anything you get in the mail from your existing credit-card bank. And if you’re thinking about responding to one of those direct-mail offers, be sure to read the terms carefully.
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David Nicklaus has covered St. Louis business for more than 25 years. His column appears three days a week on the Post-Dispatch business page. 
I’m okay with credit cards charging annual fees as long as retailers are allowed to offer a discount for cash. After all, since credit cards are issued by banks, banks should be regulated in this regard and not allowed to get rid of competition from cash. I only use credit cards for the most part due to cash back. Otherwise, I’d use cash if there was an extra fee charged to use credit cards.
I will argue with Dan a little on his point. When a customer uses a credit or debit card the retailer is not taken the risk of a bad checks or not being able to collect on a store issued credit card, thus reducing their overall expenses. Very few people carry enough green backs to pay for their shopping trips.
Keep in mind too that a portion of the fee charged retailers goes to Visa, Mastercard, AE etc.