Can my bank raise my credit card rate?

Yes, but not at its whim. A Belgian bank can raise the variable rate on a credit card, provided it warns you in writing before the increase applies and lets you leave without charge when the rise exceeds 25% of the agreed rate. The framework is article VII.86 of the Economic Law Code.

I did not read that in a brochure. I read it in case files.

Can the bank raise the rate on my credit card?

Yes, if the contract provides for a variable rate. If a fixed rate was stipulated, it applies for the agreed term: that is the first paragraph of article VII.86 of Book VII of the Economic Law Code, the Belgian statute that governs consumer credit. For a card built on a credit line, the rate is almost always variable, and the bank does not need your consent to follow it.

It does not have a free hand either. Beobank's contract says the borrowing rate "will only be changed if the maximum legal annual percentage rate changes" (translated from French). The legal ceiling is reviewed in March and in September. It moves when the reference index shifts by at least 0.75 points, and the new rate takes effect on the first day of the second month after publication in the Belgian Official Gazette.

In other words, an increase is not always the bank's choice. Neither is a decrease.

What notice must the bank give?

No fixed number of days is set for the rate itself: the law requires the information to arrive before the change applies. Article VII.86, § 4 requires the consumer to be informed "on a durable medium, before the change takes effect" (translated from French). That is the rule that matters when you dispute a change.

For the rest of the contract, the general terms add their own deadlines. Beobank reserves the right to amend its general terms, informs you in writing or on a durable medium at least two months before they apply, and lets you cancel without charge until they take effect. The clause refers expressly to article VII.86.

In the cases I handled, the argument almost always came down to the date. The two items the issuer checks first: the date the notice was sent and the medium used. A notice dated the day the change applied, or a message left in an online account that was never opened, weakens the bank's position.

Can a variable rate climb without limit?

No, and there are two safeguards. The first is the maximum legal APR, set by royal decree and published by the FPS Economy (the federal economy ministry): a card cannot exceed the ceiling for its category. The second is the 25% threshold.

The figure to remember: 25% applies to the rate itself, not to the APR in points. Article VII.86, § 5 covers non-mortgage credit lines whose rate exceeds "a margin of 25% of the initially or previously agreed rate" (translated from French). The cardholder may then cancel without charge.

A worked example. A borrowing rate of 13.98% opens the exit right from 17.48%. On a balance of 1,000 € left untouched for a year, the gap is roughly 35 € of interest, using simple interest as an order of magnitude.

Can I cancel without charge if the rate goes up?

Yes, above 25%. Below that, the law gives you no right of its own: only the contract can provide one, and most Belgian general terms leave cancellation open at any time anyway. The full procedure, with the registered letter and the anniversary month, is in the article on cancelling a credit card.

One point cardholders discover too late: cancelling stops the card, not the debt. The balance stays due under the contract's terms. If the increase makes repayments hard to keep up, talk to debt mediation or the CPAS before the first missed payment. And know that registration with the Central Individual Credit Register, the national database run by the National Bank of Belgium, follows its own deadlines, which do not depend on your decision to cancel.

Two cards, two rate histories

The KBC card shows the other side of the coin. The basic credit card costs nothing: annual fee of 0 €, tariff recorded at the issuer on 2 October 2026. Interest only appears with the Flex Budget instalment option, at a variable borrowing rate of 8.97% and an APR of 9.35%. KBC's page does not detail how the rate can change, a point to ask for in writing before activating the option.

Beobank's Visa shows what "variable" means in practice. For a 2,150 € credit, the sheet dated 1 December 2023 showed an APR of 15.99% and a borrowing rate of 15.48%, with an annual fee of 5 €. The sheet in force on 9 May 2025, recorded at the issuer on 3 September 2026, shows 14.49% and 13.98%, for the same fee.

Over twelve months, that is 1.50 points less interest on the same balance. The rate moved in the right direction here. Nothing guarantees it always will.

What if I never received the notice of change?

Act in writing, in this order, assuming nothing.

• Ask the issuer for a copy of the notice, its sending date and the medium used.
• Compare with your statements: on what date does the new rate first appear?
• Keep the statements from before and after the date of application, plus any email or online-account message.
• Send a written complaint to the issuer's complaints service and keep proof of dispatch.

If the answer does not satisfy you, the FPS Economy takes reports. The real limit to know: Ombudsfin is in principle not competent for a complaint about the level of an interest rate, which is a commercial decision. It can handle a notice that was never delivered or an application that contradicts the contract, but only after the issuer's complaints service has been tried and with no court case pending.

No refinancing solution appears in this article, and none will: that is a different subject and it calls for personalised advice.

Three contract lines to reread today

• the type of rate, fixed or variable, and the formula that moves it;
• the unilateral-change clause, with its notice period and the exit right it provides;
• the date of the latest tariff sheet, without which no APR can be compared from one issuer to another.

These three lines tell you in five minutes what the brochure does not put forward. To compare cards on their figures rather than their perks, the ranking of Belgian credit cards, the comparison tool and the selection guide start from the same recorded tariffs. The difference between APR and borrowing rate is covered in the article on APR versus borrowing rate.

Sources. Economic Law Code, Book VII, article VII.86, §§ 1 to 5, and article VII.98 (cancellation): text read on 2 October 2026, with the consumer credit framework of the FPS Economy. Maximum APRs and the March and September review mechanism: royal decree of 14 September 2016, credit-line ceilings unchanged at the 1 December 2025 review, according to the maximum rates published by the FPS Economy. Redress: Wikifin, who to turn to in case of a credit problem and Ombudsfin. Credit registration: National Bank of Belgium. Beobank general terms (articles 4, 5 and 17, undated document) and Beobank tariff sheets read on 2 October 2026 at beobank.be. KBC tariffs recorded on 2 October 2026 at KBC Flex Budget. No link in this article is paid for.