|
|
Posted by David Sherman on Sunday, December 09, 2007 at 11:44:10 :
In Reply to: the new trick posted by SUPRDUD on Sunday, December 09, 2007 at 01:55:53 :
Good move. The thing to remember is if you use credit cards a lot and you make at least the minimum payment on time, they need you a lot more than you need them. If they don't want your business, there are lots of other credit card companies that do. Deep down they know that, but they like to try to make you think they're doing you a favor. I've never had more than 2 credit cards, one from the bank where I have my business account, and one from the bank where I have my personal account. If they give me any BS on the credit cards or any other bogus bank fees, they know I'll close ALL my accounts at their bank. I've only had to pull rank that way once, when they tried to charge me $5 to notarize something.
I see even our local small-town bank is raising its fees and interest rates for the slightest late payments, overdrafts, etc. The new thing in credit cards seems to be to find any excuse possible to jack the interest rate up to the legal maximum, which is 29.9% in lots of states, and charge high fees for any minor indiscretion. It's funny, I remember when they had "usury laws" that limited interest to 12%, the theory being that only the mafiosos, loan sharks, pawnbrokers, and similar shady characters would charge more than that. But then during the high inflation around 1980, even home loans were up to 15-18% and the banks quietly lobbied to get the usury laws repealed. Now, between the banks issuing credit cards to anybody with a pulse (I even got my friend's dog "pre-approved" once) and payday loan joints in every strip mall, all of which charge interest rates that would have made the old-time mafia loan shark blush, nobody seems to think there's anything "usurious" at all about high interest rates.