{"id":116606,"date":"2026-02-16T10:33:05","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T10:33:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vale50plus.org\/clone\/2026\/02\/16\/martin-lewis-credit-card-warning-as-1p-could-cost-as-much-as-1000\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T20:56:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T20:56:30","slug":"martin-lewis-credit-card-warning-as-1p-could-cost-as-much-as-1000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vale50plus.org\/clone\/martin-lewis-credit-card-warning-as-1p-could-cost-as-much-as-1000\/","title":{"rendered":"Martin Lewis&#8217; credit card warning as 1p could cost &#8216;as much as \u00a31,000&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<h2 class=\"LeadText_lead-text__wd_PA __className_b13d3a\" data-testid=\"leadtext\">Money Saving Expert founder Martin Lewis has issued a crucial credit card warning<\/h2>\n<div class=\"Byline_byline-container__K_Owl\" data-testid=\"byline\"><span class=\"Byline_byline-content-wrapper__Imque\" data-testid=\"byline-content\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"Byline_author-badge-date-wrapper__Q7jj1\">\n<div class=\"Byline_author-and-badge-wrapper__2dsv1\">\n<p><span><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35 __className_b13d3a\">Fiona Callingham<\/strong> Lifestyle writer<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"\" data-testid=\"byline-publishedDate\">01:23, 15 Feb 2026<\/span><span class=\"ArticleTimestamp_updated-date__7qD4Q ArticleTimestamp_updated-date-with-published__iFKpF\" data-testid=\"byline-updatedDate\">Updated 09:55, 15 Feb 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p><button class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX ImageEmbed_image-lead__Ti3qQ\" data-testid=\"leadimage\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"33403879\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Martin Lewis issued an &quot;important warning&quot; about credit cards\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Martin Lewis issued an &#8220;important warning&#8221; about credit cards<cite aria-label=\"Image: Getty\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Getty)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">A financial expert has issued an &#8220;important warning&#8221; regarding credit cards, cautioning that disregarding this guidance could see 1p end up costing &#8220;as much as \u00a31,000&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Brits routinely use credit cards. These cards enable you to make purchases or withdraw cash up to a pre-set limit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Unlike a debit card, they use borrowed funds that must be repaid at a later stage. However, most credit cards charge interest on the borrowed money if you don&#8217;t repay an agreed sum each month. Martin Lewis, the founder of Money Saving Expert (MSE), explained how this could catch out many people.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">In a video shared on the <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.moneysavingexpert.com\/site\/watch-video\/?vidId=RFBuCs7ekQ4\" rel=\"nofollow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">MSE website<\/a>, he revealed that an obscure regulation could see 1p end up costing you &#8220;as much as \u00a31,000.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Martin said: &#8220;This is an important warning about the way that credit cards work.&#8221; To demonstrate his point, he asked viewers to imagine spending \u00a31,000 on a credit card and then repaying \u00a3999.99. While you might think that means you only pay interest on the outstanding 1p, that&#8217;s not how it works.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Martin added: &#8220;Imagine you&#8217;ve spent \u00a31,000 on the credit card. If you then pay off the \u00a31,000, so you totally clear it, there is no interest in the month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;But if you were to pay off \u00a3999.99, so you&#8217;re just a penny short, you don&#8217;t pay interest on a penny for the month, you still pay interest on the entire \u00a31,000.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">This could ultimately cost you considerably more than you originally expected. &#8220;This is why for years, my catchphrase has been pay off your credit card in full &#8211; the &#8216;in full&#8217; is important,&#8221; he stated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;I talk about it when it&#8217;s a credit card reward, say for getting cash back, or for cheap spending on a credit card abroad, because if you do the in full you neuter the credit card&#8217;s ability to charge you interest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">He added: \u201cIf you miss even a penny, it can still charge you a whack.\u201d On the MSE website, it offers further advice on credit cards.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">It also warned about missing your monthly minimum payment. MSE said: \u201cYour monthly card statement will tell you the total balance you owe, the minimum repayment you must make and the due date. Missing the minimum payment will result in a late fee and a mark on your credit file for up to six years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cYet only making the minimum repayment can keep you in debt for years and even decades. So, if you can, it&#8217;s always best to pay as much off as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">For more information on credit cards, visit the MSE website <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.moneysavingexpert.com\/credit-cards\/\" rel=\"nofollow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.walesonline.co.uk\/news\/cost-of-living\/martin-lewis-credit-card-warning-33404209\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Money Saving Expert founder Martin Lewis has issued a crucial credit card warning Fiona Callingham Lifestyle writer 01:23, 15 Feb 2026Updated 09:55, 15 Feb 2026 Martin Lewis issued an &#8220;important&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116607,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i2-prod.walesonline.co.uk\/article33403879.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200f\/0_GettyImages-2213119316.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18,21,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-finance","category-recentpost"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i2-prod.walesonline.co.uk\/article33403879.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200f\/0_GettyImages-2213119316.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":true,"date":"2026-12-23 20:52:00","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[0],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vale50plus.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vale50plus.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vale50plus.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vale50plus.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vale50plus.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116606"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vale50plus.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116608,"href":"https:\/\/vale50plus.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116606\/revisions\/116608"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vale50plus.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vale50plus.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vale50plus.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vale50plus.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}