If you receive a cheque in the Xmas post from your credit card lender, watch out, these gifts may not be all they seem.

The run up to Christmas is bonanza time for credit card companies. They know that people often run low on cash and they take the opportunity to promote spending and additional borrowing.

With these cheques, you are invited to make out the cheques for your Xmas purchases or to use them to pay money into your current banking account. However, this extra money can be horrendously expensive!

According to research from Money Supermarket these cheques typically have a 2% handling fee and thereafter attract an ongoing APR well above 20%. And when you use the cheque, you don’t benefit from the usual 56 day interest-free period.

What’s more with these cheques, you get a lower level of consumer protection. If the good turn out to be sub-standard, you are not protected by the Consumer Credit Act 1974, which means you are not entitled to a refund.

You have been warned!