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American Express Co. will assess "dormancy" fees on certain cardholders in the United Kingdom who seldom use their cards, a UK-based spokesperson for the card brand tells CardLine Global. The 20-pound fee (US$32.60 or 22.80 euros) will apply to Platinum credit cardholders who fail to spend with their cards over a 12-month period. The fee applies immediately for new cardholders and takes effect 1 Oct. for existing cardholders, the spokesperson says. AmEx will charge the fees on the anniversary of the card's issuance, the spokesperson says. The spokesperson declines to say how many Platinum cardholders AmEx has in the UK. At least one other UK issuer charges a similar fee. Banco Santander, S.A., a Spain-based financial institution that owns British banks Abbey National PLC and Alliance & Leicester, charges a 10-pound dormancy fee for its Zero credit card. The MasterCard-branded card has no annual fee. Peter Harrison, credit card expert at UK financial-comparison Web site Moneysupermarket.com, expects more issuers to charge the fees. "This new dormancy charge from American Express is no great surprise," he says in a statement. "It costs card firms money to issue and maintain cards, and they are required to set capital aside to cover your credit limit. We expect to see more providers introduce similar charges as they seek to recoup the losses they are making on the credit card lending."
