The largest credit card issuers charge significantly higher annual percentage rates than smaller issuers, resulting in some cardholders’ paying as much as $400 to $500 a year extra and the big companies’ earning billions of dollars in additional interest income, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said.

…

“The CFPB’s report is a clear indictment of how big banks, emboldened by unchecked mergers and consolidation, exploit their market dominance to lock consumers in so they can levy exorbitant fees and interest rates,” said Morgan Harper, director of policy and advocacy at the American Economic Liberties Project, a progressive nonprofit group.

###