What Credit Card Companies Don't Want You to Know »
Posted By pawfoots 1 year, 7 months ago in Business & FinanceOf all the games the credit card companies play that end up costing you thousands of dollars (late fees, over-limit fees, transfer fees, and so on), it's always been the interest rate game that hurt the most--until now.
Read Full Story at finance.yahoo.com »
Submitted By:
pawfoots
I currently work as VP at Virante, Inc. We are a web marketing/consulting firm based in Durham, NC. You can also find us at ...
Also submitted:
Related Articles:
Why not submit a story?
Join the Discussion 
+ Add Comment
Comments So Far: 56
-
starmuscleComment removed: User banned.2 Replies
-
0%
krayzdrayzor1 year, 7 months ago
Imagine everyone telling credit card companies, "I'm sorry were running at a deficit this year try next year".
Just how many impound lots exist? How many people could be effectively arrested and held if everyone defaulted on their foreclosed homes but continued to live there? Of course they are only questions but one can wonder if there will ever be a straw that breaks the camel's back.
Reply -
-
100%
travelgem11 year, 7 months ago
Why use a debit card that does not provide any sort of consumer protection?
Just use a credit card - use a rewards credit card that gives 1% back and NEVER CHARGE MORE $ THAN YOU HAVE and PAY OFF IN FULL.
Thats the way to stay ahead and to get ahead.
Reply -
100%
marshx1 year, 7 months ago
credit cards do have some perks, if you have the money, it can work to your advantage.
Reply
-
-
86%
keinkampf1 year, 7 months ago
The purpose of the whole consumer credit system is to get people in bondage and keep them there, for the maximum profit of the banking corporations that own the system. So, if Congress actually does take away the "universal default" ruse, the credit card companies will simply find another one--probably more expensive and harder to escape.
Reply -
55%
fullauto1 year, 7 months ago
It's a bad day for America. Credit card companies putting a needle in your arm, passing out cheap credit cards till the fine print gets you. I receive so many offers that I shred I consider it a security risk, that much mail out there with my name on it. Universal default,... why should a credit card company up my rate because I was late paying my cable bill last two times. Mortgage conpanies and their varible rate, and mortgage ANY kind of credit are going to bring down many people, our economy and stock market with it. It has started already. Bush lies about the economy. The rich do not take notice like other classes of people. Cities seem to think taxpayers have bottomless pockets. America... Grab the seat of your pants and hang on, we are in for the ride of our lives.
Reply-
100%
keinkampf1 year, 7 months ago
Moreover, when the system crashes, it won't be the credit card companies and major banks that will lose. These large institutions will simply end up outright OWNING the rest of us. It's always the peons who lose.
Reply -
71%
splitrch1 year, 7 months ago
you should do what I did. Call the opt out number on the back of the offer. You mailman will thank you.
Reply
-
-
56%
NelsonR1 year, 7 months ago
Usury Laws are absent for many of these companies. Rich get richer, poor idiots that the rich take advantage of, get poorer. Yet, they sleep like bambi's at night.
Is that what life is all about, the acquiring of money?
Reply -
100%
hoppy1 year, 7 months ago
Most worthless thing in the world.Credit cards. Why buy something and have tax added and put it on a credit card just to pay interset? Makes no sence. WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO DEBIT CARDS?
Reply -
100%
invest071 year, 7 months ago
There is a very simple solution to this whole problem. Don't buy anything with a credit card. If you do, pay the entire bill, on time, the first month. That way there is no interest or late fees and you scr*w the bank issuing the card. The banks hate people who do this.
Use debit cards as little as possible, instead use cash. That way the government will never be able to spy on your spending habits and you minimize the chances of identity theft.
Use cash while you can. The day is coming when you will have to carry the Mark of the beast to buy anything.
Reply-
-
50%
TataH1 year, 7 months ago
That's not true. We have been using cc for years, pay the balance off at the end of the month. Our credit is excellent. We get the best rates for everything. we use credit cards for everything. Get 1% back, 5 % on gas. Why not? Meanwhile my money is in the bank accruing interest. If you cannot get your spending habits under control and live within your means, it's not cc company's fault.
Reply
-
-
0%
HMMace1 year, 7 months ago
lETS FACE IT, ALL OUR POLITICIANS HAVE BEEN "BOUGHT"..NOT AN HONEST ONE IN ALL OF WASINGTON..NEVER RE ELECT ANY POLITICIANS--EVER,, If they can not steal enough in one term--tough...
Reply -
79%
Beau78901 year, 7 months ago
Another sleazy but common credit card company practice is buried in the information about how interest is figured.
Most companies figure interest using the "average daily balance" method, which means they average the balance over the entire billing cycle and multiply it by the number of days in the cycle, which, on a 9% interest credit card, roughly equals a 9% rate. But some companies use something they call the "two-cycle" method, which means the company charges you interest on the average balance in the current cycle PLUS the same interest rate on the previous month's cycle. Assuming you pay some, but not all, of your balance each month, it effectively doubles the interest rate you pay--you paid interest on that balance last month, and you'll pay it again this month.
Washington Mutual is one of the largest using this deceptive interest figuring method.
Reply-
86%
Beau78901 year, 7 months ago
(continued)
I'd suggest everyone check the terms of their credit card agreements for the method of figuring interest, and if you have a card that uses that evil "two-cycle" method, get a new card that uses "average daily balance," transfer your balance from the old card to the new, and close that account.
And send a letter telling them why.
Reply
-
-
-
0%
OldRusty1 year, 7 months ago
This is the first step of a one world,Government,,does 666 , say anything.
Reply -
0%
riverdog1 year, 7 months ago
Preaching to the choir here, but Allan Russo's film "From Freedom to Facism" and the book "Creature from "Jekle Island"
both describe the creation of the "Federal Reserve" which is anything but federal (It's privately owned by the elite bankers) to whom we all pay interest on money they create out of thin air. We were sold down the river before we were born.
Reply -
0%
Derameth1 year, 7 months ago
Did you also know that in some states your Car Insurance rates are tied to your credit scores?
Best bet yet....If you can't afford it, Dont charge it. If you have to charge it, don't buy it.
Credit is a legalized drug that will destroy you if you don't control it. This news is really not new, I learned about this a couple of months ago..that's why the shredder worked overtime.
Reply-
88%
navalgunner1 year, 7 months ago
the fact about car insurance is true in just about every state, also life insurance. if your credit is bad they will either rate you which means put you in a high risk or out and out refuse coverage
Reply
-
-
-
0%
dobskier1 year, 7 months ago
Credit cards are great, I love mine. I get free plane tickets etc. Know the game and beat it. The CC companies make money every way. Retailers take it in the butt, 4% on the purchase ane 4% on the return. So they have to build in 10% just to cover the cards. Here's some advice for all of you that are bitching .... pay your bill at the end of the month and it is free! Free, free, free
Wait you have to carry a balence to stay in your $500k house; to bad. Get a house with wheels.
CC companies prey on fools. Look in the mirror.
Reply-
100%
ADAGUY1 year, 7 months ago
I guess I'm not alone. I use CC's rather than the bank. I have a ton of credit card debt, and pay very little interest. I've used this method for years, and if you stay on top of things, it's the cheapest money you can get, with little or no red tape!
Reply -
86%
Beau78901 year, 7 months ago
dobskier,
You said it yourself--the CC companies make money every way.
"Retailers take it in the butt, 4% on the purchase and 4% on the return. So they ahve to build in 10% just to cover the cards."
Which means the credit card companies, regardless of whether you pay no interest because you pay off in full every month, are indirectly charging YOU what amounts to a 10% surcharge on almost everything you buy.
Reply
-
-
94%
BronxBomber1 year, 7 months ago
Yet another "hidden charge" amongst many,no wonder most credit card holders file for Chapter 7! ..credit card companies..just a bunch of bloodsucking leeches.
Reply -
100%
joeblowe1 year, 7 months ago
Here's something the article didn't mention: If the bank is going to obscenely raise your rate, they have to notify you. As soon as you are notified, you have the option of CLOSING the account and freezing the rate at whatever it is. I have done this a couple of times when a bank was trying to screw me on this type on deal. It's an inconvenience but WAY better than taking that raping. Sometimes, THREATENING to close the account to lock the rate will get them to reconsider too. I just want to know, where in the hell are the people we all elected to look out for our interests? There is no way in hell these types of practices can be justified as "good business practice." It's robbery and rape, pure and simple. In a just world, the people who thought this crap up would be in prison. Maybe you can tell, this is one of my big pet peeves -- along with the bogus "credit score" bandwagon everyone seems to be jumping on. Weren't we ALL better off before such a thing existed?
Reply-
0%
Beau78901 year, 7 months ago
You're right about closing, or even threatening to close an account to get them to stop sandbagging you.
Where are the people we all elected to look out for our interests? The credit card companies gave their campaigns a WHOLE LOT of money. Particularly Joe Biden, from a state where so many credit card companies are incorporated.
Ad we were all better off before credit scores existed, except for the credit agencies and lenders. They're the ones who invented the scores, and they're the ones who use them.
Reply -
100%
ADAGUY1 year, 7 months ago
Where are our elected officials? who did you vote for? Need I say more?
Reply
-
-
63%
Harddrive1 year, 7 months ago
THE " NO NOTHING CONGRESS" NEED TO REVISED THE LAW REGARDING THE CREDIT CARD. BANK STILL MAKING LOTS OF MONEY JUST FOR 3 PERCENT OVER THE PRIME RATE, THE BANK EXEC AND THE CONGRESS KNEW IT. PROBABLY CONGRESS WOULDN'T DO IT BECAUSE THEY WOULDN'T GET ANY MONEY FROM BANK DURING THE RE-ELECTION. BUT IF YOU GUYS OUT THERE WILL HELP ME WE CAN SEND A PETITION PAPERS TO CONGRESS SO THEY WILL UNDERSTAND THAT WITHOUT US THEY CAN'T BE RE-ELECTED. LETS DO IT GUYS!!!!
Reply -
100%
oreooreo1 year, 7 months ago
1. Why are we blaming government (either party, and yes both helped make these rules) for our own lack of responsibility?
I for one am sick of government trying to play Mommy and Daddy to people.
2. I believe it should be required teaching in the public schools to teach home finance, ie, how to create a family budget, spend and save responsibly, and the consequences if you over spend. We are all to happy to teach kids about how to have sex in school, but nobody feels it important to teach them how to budget there money once they have make families.
3. And for any lawyer looking for a cool case, what about this. Why can people sue big tobacco for illness caused from smoking, when for as long as I have been born and beyond, any rational person knew smoking was bad for you. Why not max out all your cards, then sue to the credit card companies for giving out credit to people they knew darn well would wind up in debt? After all, why should anyone take responsibility for themselves?
Reply-
0%
nateweb1 year, 7 months ago
Budgeting goes out the window when an unexpected illness comes up or someone goes out of work. "Responsibility" has absolutely nothing to do with circumstances like these.
My wife and I have a ton of credit card debt, and yet we don't have a house, more than one car, or any cool "toys" because of it. We got into debt because of my wife's illness, and then we got pregnant so she couldn't work for some months. This situation was completely out of our control--I had always been very good with money.
Credit card companies are far too free with their credit--and it's easy to see why after reading the article. Most companies will do anything and everything they can to take as much as they can from you. It's amazing how brutally cold and uncaring they can be.
But honestly, try to walk a mile in someone else's shoes--you have obviously never experienced what its like to get in over your head and have a family to take care of.
Reply
-
-
0%
evelyna1 year, 7 months ago
The problem is people are not making a decant income to stay afloat. A lot of the cards are used to buy groceries, pay medical and utility bills.
I heard 50% of people are making $20,000 - $30,000 a year. There are no more decant paying jobs. They have been shipped overseas. Mexicans lower the wages.
Do I feel entitled. Youbetcha. The country has plenty of money to ****** away overseas and we finance it with our debt and taxes.
We are entitled to a decant standard of living just because!
Reply-
100%
oreooreo1 year, 7 months ago
evelyna- I need to respectfully disagree with in general.
I make a decent living. I know folks who make far more than I do, but have a huge amount of Credit card and other debts.
I am proud to say, I own 3 vehices, bought them all used, saved and paid cash, have a small home in PA, that is not flashy but functional, and I have a little put away each month.
Where you are correct, and I am guessing a small % of people fall on hard times, or get behind for reasons beyond there control, and I do get there plight, and in that regard your point is well taken.
What I do see more of though are people who have 2 car payments, a 6 bedroom, newly renovated house, and cool "toys" than complaine about debt. I am betting that makes up a much higher percentage than your scenario.
Also I disagree with your assertion there are no good paying jobs. Where many higher paying manufacturing jobs have gone over seas, there are still plenty of good paying positions to be had.
Reply
-
-
100%
Murambatsvina1 year, 7 months ago
Made a deal with my wife. Said we would get a credit card if it was paid it off every month, if not it would be cancelled.
We used it for everything that we could.Worked for four years until last month. I forgot to pay on time so charged interest. Cancelled card as agreed. Problem solved.
Reply -
0%
riverdog1 year, 7 months ago
While it's clear that many people in the credit trap are irresponsible consumers, others are ensnared due to circumstances beyond their control. It's the kick them when their down predatory practices that are so distasteful. Reason enough to rebel and stop using their service.
Reply
Add a Comment
Please keep your comments relevant to this story.
To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.