In a month that saw housing charity Shelter release it’s shocking credit card research and the Government contribute another £4m to free financial schemes run by the Citizens Advice, it’s refreshing to see a credit card company get smart.
 MBNA, the wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America announced last week the release of a new and rather different credit card. No gimmicks, no 0% offers, instead a low 5.9% interest rate for the life of a balance transfer and a handling fee of just 1.5%. The card will no doubt appeal to those looking to manage existing credit card debt as the kind of so-called ‘smart lending’ that both the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and advice charities are pushing for.
The new offering from MBNA is a stark contrast to its affinity credit card range that includes rugby and football credit cards and comes just a few weeks after eye-opening research released by Shelter. The research revealed that over 1 million people in the UK used their card to pay towards rent or mortgage payments in 2009. A debt time bomb that MBNA’s Chief Marketing Officer, Greg Reed is only too aware of :
 “We have listened hard to what customers want and I believe that this simplified, easy-to-understand, low rate card will have enormous appeal to customers.”
In offering a low, set rate for the life of a balance, MBNA also offer customers a chance to be responsible for their debt and not have to worry about switching every X amount of months. Despite the countless TV personalities and online comparison sites offering endless advice on switching card providers in search of the best deal, MBNA believe there is in fact a portion of the some 30 million UK credit card holders who simply want a low rate, for life.
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