Here is a shocker!

[BloodEclipse]

Full story here: http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/us_credit_cards_mixed_blessing/2009/08/19/249955.html

Obama Credit Card Rules May Cost Consumers More

Card companies have been gearing up for the new landscape for months, mailing consumers a spate of warnings about fee and interest rate changes. If the notices already sent are any indication, consumers may not be happy about much of the new information they receive.

Citi, for example, is in the process of informing some cardholders that it will institute an annual fee, about $30, on certain accounts.

And American Express Co. recently sent out notice it will eliminate over-the-limit fees on its consumer credit cards in October. They were dropped in response to a provision in that law that, starting in February, requires card companies to offer a way for customers to agree to pay each time a transaction triggers such a fee.

But the good news from Amex stopped there.

The letter Cynthia Vancho received last week from Amex informing her of the fee elimination also included notice that the interest rate on her card will jump to 10.24 percent from 6.99 percent. If she makes any late payments, the rate will shoot up to 27.24 percent.

And while overlimit fees are gone, Amex changed its fees for making late payments to $19 for balances under $250, and $39 for balances over that line. The prior fees were $19 for balances under $400, and $38 for balances over $400.

Vancho, who lives in Pemberton Township, N.J., sees rate and fee increases as penalizing good customers who did nothing wrong. "They're taking advantage of the situation," she said, maintaining that the hikes are being made to offset the cost of complying with the new rules. "I find it unfair for people who pay on time, pay over what is expected of them monthly and are basically good clients."

Amex spokeswoman Desiree Fish acknowledged the regulations played a part in recent rate and fee hikes. "The reason why we did it is to be responsive to the business and economic environment, which obviously included the recent regulatory changes," she said.

The company started changing rates and fees in November. Rates on certain credit cards like its Blue and Optima cards have risen on average 4 percent, while co-branded cards like airline miles cards are up an average 2 percent. "It's just part of the plan changes over the past few months that we've been making," Fish said. Citi spokesman Samuel Wang said in an e-mailed statement the new annual fees "also reflect the dramatically higher cost of doing business in our industry."

American Express and Citi are not unique. A survey by the Pew Charitable Trusts of nearly 400 credit cards offered by the 12 largest issuers in the country found that rates have gone up on average 2 percent since December. Banks are making the moves in response to an array of factors, including the regulatory changes and a spike in the number of accounts that have slipped into default as the unemployment rate has risen, said Nick Bourke, project manager of the Pew Safe Credit Cards Project.

"I find it unfair for people who pay on time, pay over what is expected of them monthly and are basically good clients."

Welcome to Obama's brand of fairness sweetheart.

 

[dross]

As I've written before about Obama, I can't tell for sure which type of socialist he is, stupid or evil. Most are stupid - they truly believe that socialist ideas can work, or that socialist ideas aren't socialist. These are the useful idiots that Lenin spoke of. The others, the intellectual architects are evil. They are the ones who know it doesn't work the way they say it will, but they know they have to present it in a certain way to sell it to the unwashed masses, but that's all okay because the ends justify the means and they have been annointed to make a better world. I've been on the fence about which one Obama is. Not that it matters, the effect is the same.

This credit debacle is a case in point. Why would you say you want lenders to open the vaults and lend money, keeping the rates reasonable, and then at every turn you add cost to the act of lending? Two reasons - you're stupid and you actually think that the lenders will just dip into their "obscene profits" and pass that along to the borrowers, or you know your regulatory acts are reducing the money available for loans and you don't care because your real goal is to wreck the system and make people more reliant on government.

I can't tell for sure where Obama is coming from, but in the end the result is the same.

 

[homeless]

dross, being as he is the POTUS, we should trust him and his education he won't show records for. We need to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he is smart enough to run this country. Now Ted the Swimmer, he might have known what he was doing at one point, but I think he drank that out long ago and started to believe what he was spewing.

Now the cure to the interest rate hike here are 4 easy steps;

1.) Tune in to Dave Ramsey
2.) Ditch the Crutch Cards
3.) Get out of debt
4.) use the money you save to buy more rifles for SHTF

 

[henktermaat]

dross, being as he is the POTUS, we should trust him and his education he won't show records for. We need to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he is smart enough to run this country. Now Ted the Swimmer, he might have known what he was doing at one point, but I think he drank that out long ago and started to believe what he was spewing.

Now the cure to the interest rate hike here are 4 easy steps;

1.) Tune in to Dave Ramsey
2.) Ditch the Crutch Cards
3.) Get out of debt
4.) use the money you save to buy more rifles for SHTF

A huge to you, sir.

 

[4sarge]

A huge to you, sir.

Hey, your FaceBook link isn't working, at least for me

 

[rambone]

This bill is due to the "Credit Card Bill of Rights" that was passed a few months ago.

https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...ill_of_rights_-_free_market_interference.html


I did a long rant about it and now we see the first signs of it's affects on customers. Many will be scared away from using credit cards.

 

[henktermaat]

Many will be scared away from using credit cards.

While I vehemently oppose the bill under discussion, I like this result.

 

[rambone]

While I vehemently oppose the bill under discussion, I like this result.

Well it will cause the evil capitalist banks to fail and probably be nationalized. And it will be more expensive to get credit and get loans. Unless you pay cash for cars and houses. Personally I like my credit cards, pay them off every month, and earn rewards checks back from them.

 

[Scout]

Now the cure to the interest rate hike here are 4 easy steps;

1.) Tune in to Dave Ramsey
2.) Ditch the Crutch Cards
3.) Get out of debt
4.) use the money you save to buy more rifles for SHTF

I use a prepaid credit card which is only used for internet purchases. Everything else is cash.

 

[Ramen]

Well it will cause the evil capitalist banks to fail and probably be nationalized. And it will be more expensive to get credit and get loans. Unless you pay cash for cars and houses. Personally I like my credit cards, pay them off every month, and earn rewards checks back from them.

I will gladly pay cash for cars and houses. Delayed gratification is great.