NO SOONER had the credit market crunched than Bank of Ireland was writing to customers informing them that, from October 20th, they will be subject to a late payment fee of €7.50 if they don’t pay off their credit card balances on time.

They are advised to allow four working days for a payment to reach their account, which in itself seems a bit much in this electronic age.

Customers will also have to pay the same amount if they breach their credit limits.

If they were Budget measures, the Opposition would be decrying them as stealth taxes.

The fees are, needless to say, in addition to the hefty double-digit interest charges that it already applies on balances that are not paid off on time and in full.

It’s what you might call a form of double taxation.

In a bid to show it doesn’t discriminate, all Bank of Ireland credit card holders – bar impoverished students – will be hit with the new charges.

Of course, Bank of Ireland isn’t the only credit-card issuer to apply sneaky fees.

They can be avoided though by customers paying up on time and keeping within their credit limits.

At a time when their stock is already at an all-time low with punters, moves such as this will hardly endear Bank of Ireland and its peers to consumers.