If all credit card companies take the same attitude, PLUS a number of companies will not now take cheques (M & S Sainsbury etc.,) how are consumers supposed to pay for the goods they want to buy - especially large items - as carrying a lot of cash about is not a good idea so trade will only suffer.

chris O' Mahoney, Bonnes, France

The plastic is called a credit card but we all know it's really a debt card. There's no profit in a customer who doesn't get into debt.
And because banks conjure loan money out of thin air, they could afford to lend it to you interest free; they would be 100% ahead of the game when the loan is repaid.
It all goes to show how the customer is being led up the garden path by these greedy fat cats.

Max , London,

Have been with EGG since 1999, paying my balance in full on 10th of each month by DD. My card expired on 31st Jan, did not get letter, email EGG to ask was told: computer closed my account due to credit risk. Also my cash back is under £10 so they will not credit it. However my EGG Loan is still in place although I am cancelling it today. Thus beware when your renewal date comes they will chop you if you clear balance. I could not care less as I have other cards but i feel the way they have tarnished my reputation is against my basic Human Rights. Pls write and ask under Data protection for all info held by EGG or Citicorp or others bearing your name. If you pay at end of month they can only close your account on renewal date as you would not have defaulted. Good luck to FBI on investigating Citicorp and taking away their credit cards. This is just a marketing exercise gine dramatically wrong, ie new customers paying in full will risk the chop. Carmen, London, England

carmen martinez lopez, london, United Kingdom

I think that the comments here are not correct. As an Egg customer with a large credit limit I will be surprised to keep my account because I don't use it enough. I used to have a debit balance of £10,000 but can't afford that with the interest rates of today and without the incentive of 0.5% cashback which used to apply (it is 0.1% now). I am also a merchant and pay 1.65% commission on Mastercard/Visa transactions (not 3%) and get paid the next day- there is never a wait..

Nick, Sheffield, UK

"One industry insider said that, as businesses, credit card providers had a right to ditch clients who did not generate income. "

For Banks good "payers" are not good "clients".

Shame on Egg Bank.!

riccardo, brussels,

My partner had cancelled her account last September - and still got one of these letters. We wonder when Egg collected ther data they used to identify their 'targets', but we wonder more whether they actually did cancel the account as instructed

Nick, Milton Keynes, UK

i was in credit by .72p so got repossessed by egg, is Gerald Ratner now running the company ?

simon donovan, Midsomer Norton,

It really doesn't matter.
If Banks and Credit Card Compnies can't make money taking the fees they are taking then they are either into fraudulent schemes regarding their customers or they should revise their fee lists and give their customers the real numbers !!!

WILLIAM, AVONDALE, USA

It's perfectly possible to have never missed a payment yet still be a credit risk.

Say you took at an Egg card and got a big credit limit. Over the next few years you get some loans and some more cards. You're now right at your limit and if you had applied for the Egg card at that time you would have had a lot lower limit and possibly been refused altogether.

It seems to be double standards to be blaming lax credit rules for debt problems and then have a go at a bank which is doing something about it.

Oh, and I've been an Egg customer for years who pays off the balance in full every month. They're not taking the card off me.

Adrian, Horley, England

I was suspicious when a radio station in London received calls on a similar basis. The problem is the banks rely on the debt to sell on as bonds ion similar markets to sub prime. 160000 not making the bank say £25.0 Per month in interest is over £4 Millon pounds an month 'lost' Egg would have been better to create an Amex style card with benefits for these 'customers'

Steve G, Ruislip, England

It just shows how stupidly short-sighted the banks' senior managers are. They over-commit on loans to credit risks in the sub-prime market and then get up the noses of their safe and reliable customers. Citi-Group/Egg and MBNA deserve all they get in the coming months as conditions for banks get worse.

John Lillywhite, Southampton, UK

I can see not wanting customers who make little use of their cards but those who pay off their bill in full each month are still making charges and thus generating income for the card companies, Remember cards carry a commission.

Ian, Frederick, USA/MD

Credit card companines are greedy hogs just like they seem. They get 3% of the gross total of every credit card transaction even though we pay on time and generate "no income." I wish someone would give me 3% of all credit card transactions. Forcing us up-to-date payers into cash will deprive them of their golden goose. They may not make as much on us as they do on those who pay large amounts of interest--but they never lose on us either.

I doubt that they will throw the golden egg away.

Frank Motley, Corbett, USA/OR

What about the transaction fees credit card companies (i.e banks like Citigroup) charge merchants when customers use their cards? Isn't that enough income to justify keeping these good credit customers?

It is incredulous that after Citigroup's massive write-offs due to lending mortgages to overextended customers, they want to cut off good credit.

This is pure petty nickel & dime stuff that in my opinion will backfire if only from the bad publicity.

Fred, Ontario, Canada

If they can only make money from people getting into difficulties and being unable to pay their balance, then they need to change their business model, not insult their customers. They should be making the bulk of their profit through the commission they charge merchants (all of whom have to wait months before they get the money). How do debit card issuers get by?

Roy, London,