Hidden Fees on Credit Cards in Jordan

Dec 24, 2019 by Ramez Nabulsi

As we highlighted before in previous articles, the credit card is no longer seen a luxury, but rather regarded as essential to facilitate the buying process online over the internet. Furthermore, the credit card has a vital role in optimizing the individual’s image from the bank’s perspective in terms of credit history, thereby having an activated credit card indicates for an active credit behavior which eventually has a positive impact on the level of trust between the bank and the client who is looking for credit services.

Same as retail loans, the credit card entails a set of commissions and fees that may sound concealed at first sight, or not apparent, since credit card is a tool to grant credit in the first place.

You may feel tempted by the low-interest rate at the beginning, so you proceed quickly in issuing the credit card from your bank… but step back, don’t rush, it’s worth the time to think it twice! There are some hidden fees entailed on the cardholder.

In the following section, we will come across the main fees that accompany the credit card in Jordan:

1) Issuance fees: These are annual fees to be paid once the credit card is issued from the bank, the fees range from 25 to 200 JDs depending on the card type. Yet some cards don’t stipulate any issuing fees, while other cards don’t require paying issuing fees for the first.
2) Monthly interest fees: Calculated at the end of allowance period for the unpaid transactions, it comes with a fixed percentage of 1.75% for all banks in Jordan. As for the allowance period, it’s the period of time in which the user is allowed to pay through the credit card without imposing an interest rate, once the period ends the interest fees start calculating in action.
3) Renewal fees: These fees are annual, must be paid after the expiry of card with the intention for renewal. The value of these fees varies from one card to another based on the type, but usually, the value ranges from 15 to 200 JDs.
4) Supplementary fees: These fees take place in case the card user wants to issue a credit card to cover all his family members, the value of these fees are less than renewal fees.
5) Damage replacement fees: These fees are entailed when the card is damaged or no more functioning and it needs to be replaced with usable one, the fees range from 10 to 20 JDs depending on the card type.
6) Payment delay fees: In case there are delays in payment, a commission will be imposed consequentially within the determined payment period. The minimum value of these fees ranges from 10 to 15 JDs.
7) Over the credit limit fees: As we all know, every credit card has a predetermined credit limit that the user shall stick with. In case he exceeded the limit, a commission shall be imposed against this violation, the value of this commission is from 10 to 15 JDs at minimum.
8) Cash withdrawal fees: When the credit card holder wants to withdraw cash from ATM through the credit card itself, additional fees will be added reaching 2% of the credit amount. In case the cash was withdrawn from another bank’s ATM the percentage becomes 4%, given that the minimum fees of this percentage is 4 JDs even if the amount of 4% percentage is less than 4 JDs.
9) Foreign exchange fees: These fees come to action when buying occurs outside the country or when it is completed via another currency rather than the card’s main currency. Usually, the value of these fees ranges from 3 to 4%.
10) Fees of objection on the financial transaction: The cardholder is entitled to submit an objection on a recorded financial transaction that he hasn’t made or completed, this applies too on ATM card or credit card. The amount of these fees is 5 JDs only able to retrieved back if the validity of his objection was confirmed.
11) Fees of requesting to watch a security video regarding a specific ATM: If the card user is concerned about a financial transaction that is done from one of the ATMs, then he’s entitled to request watching a recorded video displaying the process of cash withdrawal that happened on one of the ATMs. The amount of these fees is only 10 JDs.

It’s no brainer that the credit card has become an essential tool to buy and pay, as it places many valuable and necessary things in the hands of the cardholder. Therefore, it would be better to acknowledge all details and fees pertaining to the use of a credit card before issuing it. Having that been said, we aim through this blog to cover all the fees that may seem invisible to the credit card user. Hopefully, it has been an insightful read for you!