Banks charging credit card customers for NOT using credit cards

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Not enought to cut them up. You have to cancel the card first.

Your double-take on that headline is to be expected.

But it's true.

• Let your plastic collect dust for too long and you could get punished with an "inactivity fee."

• If you don't charge enough to suit your credit card issuer, it will pad your bill for you.

• Wisely pay off your balance every month to avoid interest and it'll still cost you.

Credit card issuers are making Scrooge look like a philanthropist as they scheme to devise more and more ways to shake you down when you aren't looking at the ever-changing "Terms of Agreement" set in small print.

AARP agrees. Anticipating new laws, issuers are launching a preemptive strike with creative charges.

• Since June, Fifth Third Bancorp has been charging customers $19 if they don't use their credit card.

• Citigroup is already charging annual fees to card holders who don't put more than about $2,400 a year on their cards.

• Next year, Bank of America will charge a small number of customers an annual fee, ranging from $29 to $99 if they pay off their balance every month.

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