Annual Fee Charged after Cancellation of Credit Card

Credit card companies are now facing increased pressure on profitability since the federal government regulations on credit card fees eroded their margins overnight. Don't be surprised that you might find them looking for an extra dollar in different ways. I cancelled an ANZ credit card in early April and was waiting for the final statement to come in the mail. Today when it arrived, they had charged an annual fee in late April!

I was already very dissatisfied with the ANZ credit card because when you log into your account, they deliberately make it impossible to find out your closing balance and the date it is due. If you have an ANZ account, feel free to prove me wrong in the comments with a screenshot. But I'm quite sure it is not possible to see the closing balance and due date. This had caused me to miss my payment once before I had my direct debit set up. Of course, even with DD set up, you also need to know when to make funds available for the amount to be fetched.

Anyway, I called them up and after half an hour on the phone, they finally reversed the annual fee charge and hopefully that will be the last I hear about that card. But the lessons for all of you out there are -

1. Remember, just because you cancelled your card, don't assume they won't try to charge you an annual fee a few weeks later. 
2. Watch out for credit cards that hide the amount you owe. Online services are supposed to make things more convenient. 
3. Don't be afraid to call up to have any annual fee after your cancellation reversed.