Credit Card Inactivity Fees

It has been well documented throughout the Internet that banks and credit card companies have hidden fees. One of those fees are inactivity fees for not using a credit card. Below is a list of some of the different types of inactivity fees. So read your terms and conditions closely.

1) Inactivity Fee

Known financial institutions: Bank of Montreal (BMO), Scotiabank, HBC, President’s Choice Financial (effective February 2, 2016)

This is usually a $10 fee for not having any sort of activity on your credit card for about a year.

The simple solution is that if you know that you don’t plan to use their credit cards for the next 12 months, save yourself the trouble by transferring to another credit card that you may actually use. Otherwise simply cancel your credit card, if possible, and re-apply in the future if you want to use the credit card again.

So long as you are familiar with the credit scoring system, you won’t need to worry about taking hits on your credit score.

2) Multi Product Rebate Fee

Known financial institutions: Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)

RBC uses sneaky way to charge the hidden fees. You need to use their credit card at least once every 90 days to continue to benefit for a multi product rebate promotion for your chequing accounts. Essentially you can waive your monthly transactions fees.

3) Maintenance Fee

Known financial institutions: CIBC

For CIBC, this fee only really applies if you have a credit balance on your account after 360 days, which happens very rarely anyway (e.g. you returned something to a store and got reimbursed on your credit card). A credit balance is if the credit card company owes you money. So simple ensure that you have a $0 balance to avoid the fee if you do not plan to use your credit card.