CHRISTMAS shoppers have seen the time given to pay off credit card bills slashed by the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Millions of customers will effectively have just 10 days after January 2 to clear their balances before being hit by interest charges and late payment fees.
The move will also affect cardholders NatWest and MINT, which are owned by the RBS.
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onsumer groups have claimed the changes are a cynical attempt to target customers at Christmas, a time when they use their credit cards most.
"Many people will use their credit cards over the festive period and wait until they get paid in January before paying off the balance," said a spokesman for Which? "But this shorter interest-free period may not give cardholders the same flexibility and many will incur charges."
People who fail to get the minimum payment in on time will be hit with £12 late payment fees on top of interest charges.
RBS claims customers will still have 15 days to clear their debts, but in reality most will not receive a week after the statement has been issued.
They then have to make sure money is in the bank three working days before payment is due, even if they are transferring funds electronically. Cheques must be paid in at least a week in advance.
A spokeswoman for RBS, which has 11 million credit card holders, said: "Some customers prefer to use their credit cards like a charge card and pay off their balance in full each month.
"The vast majority of these payments are made within a two-week period of the statement date. With this in mind we are aligning our payment period to better reflect this behaviour."
The full article contains 293 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
