Halifax changes result in 80 year debt

There's been a recent change made by the Halifax, to cut the minimum repayment levels on its credit cards from 2% to just 1%.

The 1% figure is so low that Halifax have actually been forced to add in an additional minimum repayment clause that says the minimum repayment will be "the greater of 1% or interest + fees + any default charges + any insurance premium + 5" - or the 1% might not even be clearing the interest charges added that month

The recent reports go on to say that repaying just the new minimum on an outstanding credit card balance of 5,000 (I presume its using an average rate of around 15.9% p.a.) would take more than 80 years to repay and cost over 30,000 in interest charges!

Halifax have said they've made the change to help ease the financial burden people may be under in the current global finance crisis, but they're obviously getting a load of money in interest charges too.

Its an interesting change after just being bought out by Lloyds TSB - who don't have the best reputation for their fair offers and customer service.