Do you know what your store cards are costing you?

Store cards can quietly drain your wallet through monthly service fees, even if you have what you assume is a zero balance. Last month Woolworths raised its store card fee to R52.49 a month, applying it even to those customers who have a zero balance. That works out to R630 annually just to hold an idle account. While legal under the National Credit Act, this service fee is nearly ten times higher than that of competitors such as Truworths. So, if your store card is sitting unused, settle the balance and close it via email to avoid paying for absolutely nothing.