Credit Card Rates

commalot

commalot

Well-known member
Is it just me they're after or what? Both B of A and Chase have raised my Rates in the last couple months. Anyone else experiencing this?
 
A lot of banks are creating and then exercising the option to raise rates on lots of people - good customers included.

Tell 'em you'll cancel if they raise your rate. Worst that'll happen is that you'll be in the market for a new credit card (although it's worth checking to make sure that canceling from your end won't adversely affect your credit rating; the perversity of the system is such that it just might...)
 
Sad Max said:
A lot of banks are creating and then exercising the option to raise rates on lots of people - good customers included.

Tell 'em you'll cancel if they raise your rate. Worst that'll happen is that you'll be in the market for a new credit card (although it's worth checking to make sure that canceling from your end won't adversely affect your credit rating; the perversity of the system is such that it just might...)
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Yes, I've considered that. They're all hitting in the last few months. I had these cards for a while with no change. They must be losing money and looking for increased revenues.
 
defaults are on the increase so they're jacking up rates and lowering the amount people are allowed to spend. in some cases they're lowering the limit below the balance in order to charge future penalties. my prediction is this will only exacerbate the problem and more people will end up declaring bankruptcy.
 
Beware of a relatively new tactic being used by the more nefarious credit card companies: cutting your credit line to below your current balance and then socking you with 'over limit' fees and damaging your credit score as a result. Dirty dog tricks out there. Beware!
 
Beware of a relatively new tactic being used by the more nefarious credit card companies: cutting your credit line to below your current balance and then socking you with 'over limit' fees and damaging your credit score as a result. Dirty dog tricks out there. Beware!
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I've heard of this happening lately. Even though credit card companies might seem safe and normal because "everyone" uses them, at the end of the day, the principles of the mob, bookies, or any other extreme form of lending are still at play. At the end of the day you've got their money and when the crap hits the fan all they care about is getting their money back and they're going to leverage anything they can to make you pay up.
 
Well, having chosen to do business with them and use their money, I don't see that the customer is really in much of a position to complain...
 
The problem stems from when the CC company chooses to change the rules ex post facto, thus forcing a customer who was abiding by the initial rules into a position of violating the rules (ie., not to go over limit of credit line).
 
The initial contract always contains language permitting the card issuer to change the terms at their discretion in whatever way they like - usually with the proviso that the customer retains the right to close the account out on the original terms, if they don't like the new terms.
 
we know longer have credit cards and just pay cash for everything, but looking back it was pretty crazy what some of the card companies would do. it was like they were throwing money at you. at one point my wife had a $50,000 credit limit on one of her cards even though she was in her 20s with a fairly low paying job. and that was just one card. between us we probably had like ten credit cards. thank goodness she isn't a big shopper. :)
 
The problem with these contracts is that they are all-encompassing--essentially they demand everything--even your firstborn--and say they can change the terms any damned time they please, to any damned terms they want, without prior notice. On top of that, they make it 3 pages long and in 6 point type that all but those with young eyes cannot read. Plus, how many of us take the 2 hours to read and understand that, and maybe consult with an attorney on points we aren't clear about before signing?

I got rid of my personal cards (MasterCharge and Visa) in '78, but my wife has several and she uses them cautiously and pays them off before the end of each month. Unfortunately, we had to pay part of our Dec property tax bill on credit because our savings were insufficient due to declining income and rising energy costs. The fortunate thing is that she has a 6 month no interest financing offer, so we're okay until June if we pay it off entirely before then.

Some of the horror stories I've heard on late night talk radio were about people paying by mail with a week to the deadline and card companies holding the payment and refusing to credit the account until after the deadline, then charging a late fee and jacking up the interest to 36%. No matter how vigilant a card holder is, if the CC company wants to screw the card holder, they will. Capital One was one of the more notorious banks doing this sort of practice.
 
Sad Max said:
I dunno. If I can't read it and I can't understand it, I don't sign it.
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that's because you're probably looking at it from a position of being older, wiser, and more financially stable. when you're in college it's like, "awesome, i can get a free hat if i sign up for a credit card!" :beer:
 
I usually catch it when they send you one of those rate increase notices but I missed it with B of A and they doubled my rates. I talked to them and I'm going WHAT THE HELL , I pay my payments on time. Why are you screwing me? It didn't help. It really pisses me off. I don't like being over a barrel.
 
What really burns me up is the collusion between credit card companies and credit reporting agencies. You know, your supposedly all important "credit rating"? So you can get a mortgage or a loan? That's all tracked through the credit reporting agencies. But we're told that if we CANCEL a credit card, our credit rating can go DOWN!!!! You know why? Because the credit card companies don't want us to cancel cards. They want us to pay them off eventually (with enough late fees and interest to keep their business model rolling in money). But they don't want us to cancel them. They want these cards sitting in our hot little wallets, so eventually we weaken and use them again. It is really horrible, and people should speak up. Canceling a credit card should IMPROVE your credit rating, since you have paid it off and now have less exposure to debt. That makes you LESS of a credit risk, not more. If you have the good sense to cancel one of those stupid (criminal?) credit cards, you should be rewarded not punished. I hope people starts making an issue of this soon. Hey, write to your congressman or something.
 
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ugafan said:
that's because you're probably looking at it from a position of being older, wiser, and more financially stable. when you're in college it's like, "awesome, i can get a free hat if i sign up for a credit card!" :beer:
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Then it's an important life's lesson, isn't it? :)

Guys, we usually end up needing to close or delete threads like this, so let's stay away from torch-wielding mob stuff and conspiracy/doom theories. You don't have to like it, but let's keep from going down (another) bad road. :beer:
 
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