Updated September 28, 2026
What is Annual fee?
In short
A set yearly charge for holding a card, separate from the interest and fees you pay as you use it.
An annual fee is a fixed charge for holding a card account, taken once a year and often deducted automatically. It sits apart from the cost of using the card, so a card can charge a low annual fee and still be expensive on currency, or charge a high one and offer useful benefits. The figures in this group differ sharply. Absa charges an annual fee of ZAR 588, while ABN AMRO NL Zakelijk charges €37.50 and 1822direkt charges €36. Because these are yearly rather than one-off charges, the totals depend on how long a card is kept, and a card that is only used for a single trip can cost more in annual fees than in spending charges.
Sources
- regaltribune.com, checked September 26, 2026
- 1822direkt.de, checked September 26, 2026
- abnamro.nl, checked September 26, 2026