Credit card companies have until 2010 to stop ripping you off
Filed under: Credit, Debt, Consumer Complaints
When President Obama signed the credit card bill in May, there was one stipulation included for the benefit of the credit card companies: The changes go into effect in the middle of 2010.That means, as Suze Orman has pointed out, that the credit card companies have an entire year to have their way with you. And nobody will hear you scream.
And look, here they are now, approaching consumers with a long to-do list of wrong that would make former Pastor Ted Haggard blush.
The USA Today reports that "Most issuers have raised rates or fees for certain borrowers. In the latest round, Bank of America and Chase have increased, or are increasing, their maximum balance-transfer fees, from 3% to 4% and 5%, respectively. Chase is also expanding the definition of who could get hit with a penalty interest rate. Meanwhile, InfiBank is establishing a higher minimum APR -- the greater of 15.99% or 11.99% plus the prime rate -- on many cards. And Capital One and Citigroup continue to raise card rates for certain borrowers."
So fasten your seatbelts, folks. It's gonna be a bumpy ride for a while more yet.
But I'm with Suze on this one. You can't totally blame the credit card companies. They're just doing their job, which happens to be screwing you. Blame your elected officials -- and yourselves -- however, for letting it happen.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-01-2009 @ 10:38AM
Lawrence Rosen said...
Blame elected officials? What for, this is a contract between credit card companies and their customers. If you don't like what the evil credit card companies are doing don't use them. It saddens me to see crybabies running to the government to bail them out of every personal problem.
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7-01-2009 @ 1:09PM
Phil said...
About a year ago my credit was a mess from medical bills and some credit card overspending. If you've never had that problem you can't believe how it messes up your life. It's hard to buy any big ticket item or even get a good job with bad credit. I found a blog, http://www.fastcreditrepairs.info/ ,that really gave me the information I needed to get my credit and life straightened out. It helped me so well that I was recently able to buy a car and pay the lowest interest rate possible. If you have credit problems you might want to check it out
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7-07-2009 @ 12:30PM
TeacherTeacher said...
Credit card companies are enabled to be abusive. American consumers are giving credit card companies permission to abuse them everytime they use their credit cards. They also help them make money from merchants who must pay a small fee so that their customers can use credit cards. The best way to combat this, is to simply stop using your credit card. I pay cash for everything. I have also canceled my rewards program and no longer fool myself into believing that I am racking up points for my purchases. Consumers need to stop worrying about what credit card companies think of them and what they buy. Vote with your pocketbook and stop enabling the abuse!
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7-09-2009 @ 7:49PM
Mike said...
We were offered a balance transfer from Bank of America for 4.99% without a fee! When we took them up on the offer, they reviewed our credit (both scores above 700) and proceeded to cancel the transfer and then had the gall to cancel both of my wife's credit cards. I took a loan from my new car and 401K to payoff the rest of their cards to get them out of our life. This behavior threatens our whole economy, the legislators need to wise up and stop these practices!
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7-13-2009 @ 2:05AM
Gary Anderson said...
Seriously, if you don't need a great credit score because your aren't going to buy a house or buy a car, just protest this bank slavery by not paying your cards. If everyone stops paying credit cards in the next two years in protest, the banks will tank and we can be free of international bankers. Maybe the government will even kick out the federal reserve bank (a private bank).
It won't take that long to reestablish your credit, so if you can afford to protest these credit card companies, now is the time. You have to understand that credit card companies are taking advantage of you both in the time before the new laws go into effect, and likely after those laws go into effect to make up for losses on other types of loans. It is just a continuing abuse of the consumer to cover their really bad housing scam. If you want to learn more please go to http://dontpaycreditcards.com and see what the banks have been up to.
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7-22-2009 @ 9:38AM
franks said...
File bankruptcy on all credit cards and stick it to them,and then never use them again,get a debit card and pay as you go.You can do anything with a debit card as you can a credit card. Live within your meens,if they tempt you with free money and you take the bait ,you deserve all the trickery they will throw at you. Its the devils seed and once planted your SCREWED even if you pay on time ,they will still get you. You want a stronger country,then act like it and file bankruptcy get a fresh start and send them card companys the silver bullet to there heart ,if enough file bankruptcy it will send a clear message that americans have had enough. And tumble the banks to there knees.
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8-27-2009 @ 1:06AM
Jacob said...
It should always be remembered that explicit dependency on anything leads to exploitation, Which has been done by nearly all the credit card companies. This is our own fault and we should always check out for the best credit card deals before opting for one.
Jacob
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9-18-2009 @ 2:33AM
Linda said...
Sometimes that doesn't work either. I opted for a 4.99 offer for the life of the loan from Chase. Now they have targeted thousands of people who took advantage of their low rate balance transfer offers or convenience checks (who have excellent credit and never miss a payment) )and they have increased their minimum monthly payment from 2% to 5%. Mine went from $358 in July to $950 in August, which is higher than my monthly income right now. They are very arrogant and say it is not negotiable and there is no opt out. They have told some people that they can get their 2% payment back if they double their interest rate. I don't see how they can do this. This was suppose to be a fixed rate until paid off. They know most people won't be able to afford the higher payment so they blackmail them into giving up their promised rate. In other words, Chase defaulted on the agreement they made with us. We are living up to our end but they aren't making enough money off us. They want us to default so they can raise our rate sky high. They say they are "helping" us pay down our debt quicker. What a joke. Especially since they offer to let you keep your minimum payment if they can double your interest for a year and after that it goes to the highest rate. I didn't get offered this though instead they gave me the number for a credit counseling service who wanted to charge me $50 a month and required that I close ALL my credit card accounts in addition to my Chase one. Closing one account will lower your credit score so just imagine what closing all your accounts will do to it. This is just to protect Chase so you don't pay everyone but them. And your other creditors will get less per month than they were getting from you and will NOT be happy about it. Others were offered a debt liquidation deal where they pay 2% or 6% for 5 years. One person who did it saw her credit score go from 780 to 657 just for closing her Chase account (it was mandatory) and enrolling in the program. Chase is also slashing peoples credit limits to just above what they owe, making it look like they are maxed out which lowers their score even more. They are on a mission to ruin people who have had a lifetime of excellent credit one way or the other. This is what we get for bailing them out.
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