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I have good credit. When I bought my house 3 years ago my credit score was 740-750 depending on which credit bureau was used. I have never missed a payment or under payed a bill of any kind in probably 13 years or more. Not even once.

I have been getting letters from credit card companies that I have had accounts with for 10 to 4+ years that say:

Due to extraordinary changes in the economic environment, were reviewing our existing credit card accounts. Having considered these economic conditions, your account's current purchase rate and the length of time you've had this rate and account, we will be changing your purchase and balance transfer rate.... from my 7.9% to 14.65% plus prime. (17.9% currently)

Or another: we are reducing your credit limit... (If it was 16K and I owed 7900 it would be reduce to 8100. This automatically hurts my score because I am near max on my limits now.

Or a charge card (0%) that I've used for the last 10 years for my monthly expenses, that gets paid for the previous month, completely to zero the following month. They waited until I made my monthly payment for January in February, let me charge February's expenses but freezed the card for March saying that the balance would have to be payed before I could use it again. This means that I either pay the card much earlier than the end of the month and not use it for current expenses or I use a credit card (7.9% or more) for my monthlies or I cut expenses, pay vital expenses with cash and pay the card off and not use it again. (I'm using a 7.9% to pay this months expenses and cutting up the charge card, paying it off this month, then paying the extra monthlies next month to limit my exposure to interest rates.)

In regards to the increased credit card interest rates: If I don't agree to these changes in rates I can opt out, pay it off, agree to close the account or keep the original rate until 2010 when it will go up to the new extortion rate. Some will keep the rate the same if I agree to closing the account at the next expiration date of the card. I'm unsure if I must pay it off in full or they will close the account and let me continue to make payments at the current rate.

This is a concerted effort to cause me to default or to submit to paying these unwarranted rates.

It's the credit card companies changing the rules in the middle of the game, to benefit themselves. These changes are not from introductory rates to some higher rate. These changes are from standard rates based off of my credit report to a new rate based off of their inability to operate a fair and just business with an established agreement between two parties.

It occurs to me that if this is commonplace to other card users then this alone will hinder spending by consumers because if they choose to maintain any paying relationship with these companies, there will be no money left for savings, food, gas, utilities and the like.

There should be some way to stop this kind of legal extortion. It seems futile to continue to participate in their one sided games. Just because they can't run their company successfully doesn't mean I should be pressured to give them increasingly high profits when I have always been a responsible card user.

What advice could you give in this situation? I'm too close to the problem to be objective. - Dale:Banane26:

Dale:

This is fairly common nowadays. Last I heard (2008) there were Congressional hearings that didn't go anywhere and possibly a class-action lawsuit.

You are not alone.:(

This is why I don't carry a balance on my cards. Gas, groceries, whatever goes on the debit card which takes the funds directly out of checking. I write checks for the monthly bills. Bigger expenses go on the credit card, which I pay off in full every single month without fail. Call me a cynic but I expect credit card companies to try to bone me.

I don't recall receiving anything like that, but I pay off my accounts in full every month, and I always have.

I got rid of my credit cards about a year ago...They are bad news. I MIGHT get one in the future for large expenses, but other than that, I'll be avoiding such nuisances as credit card companies.

They can do what they want to manipulate a contract, but you can't do what you want. If I do decide to get a credit card, I'll have my lawyer when I sum up my contract to give to them, if they don't want it, then I guess I wont be needing a credit card.

I have good credit.

....

Just because they can't run their company successfully doesn't mean I should be pressured to give them increasingly high profits when I have always been a responsible card user.

What advice could you give in this situation? I'm too close to the problem to be objective. - Dale:Banane26:

I would approach this from a customer service perspective. Call them, explain that you've always been a good customer, enjoyed their service and would like to keep doing business with them, but think that you won't continue with them under the new terms and conditions. If they can't help you, go with the current rate until 2010 while you pay down your balance (or look for alternate financing.)

It has been decades since I carried a CC balance, so I don't know all the niceties of card owner rights for interest rates on carried balances, etc. Sometimes companies will try to get you to agree to things that they can't legally force you to do.;)

Just my $.02.

Unfortunately, the credit card banks make more money on monthly interest than they do on the couple of percent they take from merchants on each transaction. And they're losing more money lately due to defaults on so many accounts. So they're looking to get money in any way they can. And I've seen (or heard of) them doing the following -
- Quietly raising interest rates and/or reducing credit lines.
- Moving the due date earlier and not telling cardholders, in the hopes that an automatic payment set up for a specific day of the month will suddenly be late, which nets them $30 or so in a late fee, and the legal right to wipe out any low interest balance transfers and bring them up to the higher purchase or cash advance rates.
- Increasing the minimum monthly payment from 1.5-2% up to 4%. For people with high balances, this can double their minimum monthly payment and suddenly make them insolvent.

I have two cards I use for almost all monthly purchasing, and I pay them both in full before the due date. I use them because I get money off a new car purchase (GM Card) or free hotel rooms (Choice Rewards). I keep both because the GM Card only allows $500 in earnings per year, and so I switch away from it to the Choice to continue collecting points for hotel rooms. The rewards build up fast when you pay your car insurance and all utilities on the cards along with gas and food and daily expenses. But I watch those two cards very carefully to make sure they don't get sneaky and take away the grace period or slash the credit limit to just below my normal high monthly balance in order to make a quick cash grab. If they start playing games, I stop using the cards and then close them after cashing in the reward points/money.

The important point is for everyone to carefully review their statements each month and look for any of these sneaky screw-you tactics. And if you spot them, call them and try to have it changed back to the previous setup. They are relying on cardholders just accepting whatever stunts they pull. If they refuse, the next step is to close the account.

One problem with closing the account, though, is that it reduces your overall line of credit, which in turn increases your overall debt to income ratio. When that happens, other banks can then interpret that as you taking on more debt. And they see that as a red flag and start cranking up your interest rates or minimum due amounts, or reducing your credit line.

I purchase almost everything with my credit card, pay it off every month and earned 2 free tickets to Europe that I used to go to germany 3 years ago, and I now have enough for 2 more US flights.

I do have my credit card through a Credit Union which isn't as preditory as what I hear from many of the big banks. We looked into going with Chase recently because of their claims of low interest rates and 18 month no interest on transfers.

Guess what, even with impeccable credit we were not eligible for the great rates or no interest. We passed. :rolleyes:

Thankfully my wife finally paid off her perpetual balance that she couldn't break for the last 20 years.:woot:

I doubt calling the card company will get anyone anywhere, just a chat with a call center person with no authority.

... They can do what they want to manipulate a contract, but you can't do what you want. ....

They can make changes that are legal in the state in which they are doing business (i.e. Delaware or South Dakota, which lack usury laws). Thanks :mad: to changes in federal law in the late 20th century, your home state no longer has jurisdiction.

Generally either you agree and continue using the card, or refuse the new terms, quit making new charges, and continue paying off the account on the old terms. Tens of millions of customers are not in a position to quit using the card, and are therefore screwed. Even worse, most of them don't even read the little sheets describing the new terms.

I rolled over a balance only a handful of times in my life, not at all in two decades. The interest is too costly, and balances sharply reduce one's flexibility to deal with financial downturns such as we have face now.

MaxxMPG,
Thanks for the heads up on the decreasing due date, I may have experienced this and not known it as I get my due date alerts from two sources and pay as I am alerted rather than as an automatic payment.

A note when you pay off a card, don't close the account as it will no longer be considered an existing account and this can reduce your overall score especially if it has been in good standing for many years. Just leave it open and cut it up. The exception is a annual fee based card which should be avoided anyway.

I'm going to have to spend some time on the phone with these dirty bankers, I've considered telling them:

Due to the changing economic conditions and your frequent disregard to serving honest responsible customers with fair behavior on your part, I am altering our relationship and please send all of your correspondence to your preferred collections agency. As you no longer find it reasonable to protect my interests and credit rating I find it necessary to stop all payments immediately. - Disgruntled Consumer

I doubt calling the card company will get anyone anywhere, just a chat with a call center person with no authority.

Depends. If you spend a lot of money over a long period through their card program, talk to a manager -some banks will offer better terms or different cards. Others won't.

Depends. If you spend a lot of money over a long period through their card program, talk to a manager -some banks will offer better terms or different cards. Others won't.

My sister's friend has a Chase card with a pretty high balance and they boosted the minimum monthly payment from 2% to 4%. And she was barely making the 2% payment so the 4% would have meant serious trouble in the budget. She called Chase to see about changing it back. They did it without a problem, and said they are upping the minimum on some accounts to "help their cardholders to pay off old balances faster and improve their financial health". How sweet of them!

Chase is also the one that bumped by due date ahead a week. Used to be due on or around the 13th, suddenly became the 6th. No notification other than tiny print at the bottom of the area where charges normally appear, stating, "Please note the due date on your account has changed". I pay later in the previous month anyway, but I was angered at the thought of how many people would miss that fine print. My sister has a Citi account and she checked her account and sure enough, they pulled the same stunt. Fortunately, she also pays two weeks before the due date.

What can really frost your shorts is all the Chase Card commercials showing people checking their credit line via cell phone alert before going out and buying that new plasma television. The ad shows people rewarding themselves with material goods, using money they haven't yet earned, and boy do they look happy with their new television. But they never show the followup ad of the happy young couple now fighting with a pair of rusty shovels because there's no money in the checking account and the wonderful Chase decided the minimum payment they want is $600.

... card with a pretty high balance and they boosted the minimum monthly payment from 2% to 4%. And she was barely making the 2% payment so the 4% would have meant serious trouble in the budget. She called Chase to see about changing it back. They did it without a problem, and said they are upping the minimum on some accounts to "help their cardholders to pay off old balances faster and improve their financial health". How sweet of them! ...

It was only a few years ago that many cards required only a 1% minimum payment, which in too many cases was less than the new interest and fees. Over protests from some card companies, the Feds forced them to raise minimums to 2%, for exactly the reasons mentioned above.

People making only the minimum payment are already in serious trouble, but many of them don't know it. Higher minimums will prevent others from digging their financial hole that deep.

...Thanks for the heads up on the decreasing due date, I may have experienced this and not known it as I get my due date alerts from two sources and pay as I am alerted rather than as an automatic payment.

Even one of my public utilities has been playing games with due dates. The cynic in me thinks they have hopes of collecting more 10% late fees.

... dirty bankers, I've considered telling them: ... As you no longer find it reasonable to protect my interests and credit rating ...

"No Longer"??? :biglol: What made you think they ever wanted to protect your interests and credit rating? Several decades ago, the only reason they started lending to poor credit risks was because it was vastly more profitable than lending to good credit risks.

Good credit customers are in limited supply, too smart to pay high rates, and have other options. Poor risk customers are available in unlimited number, are willing to pay rates more than high enough to offset the defaults, and are often captive customers, unable to switch to other financial sources. It is actually profitable for them to push your credit rating lower.

1. Don't carry a balance. Ever. Rectify that situation first.
2. Dump commercial car issues like Citi, Chase, etc.
3. Find a credit union. Membership rules are much more relaxed now, and chances are you are eligible to join one somewhere. Ask friends and family.
4. Don't just ditch all your credit cards. That is counterproductive and probably ends up hurting your rating and your ability to get credit in the future.

My credit card's rules were changed effective in May. So the rewards get lessened, and the interest rates go up. Fine, I pay mine off in full every month. Have since opening the account.

Now if the grace period goes, I'm out. Pay my balance off right then, and cut the card up.

Unfortunately all the companies are doing things like this.

Almost everyone I know has gotten a notice that their interest rates are going up.

I have heard about this new practice also. Legalized robbery.

I do not have a personal cc, I have a company AMEX card for traveling. They also recently changed their policies, one is cutting it off after 45 days instead of 90. I use a debit card or checks for larger purchases. For weekly spending I take out a cash allowance every Friday. I was scared off credit cards years ago by friends saying what the interest rates they were paying was, seemed like legal robbery to me. I’d sure love to be able to lend money at 24.9% interest!!!

Not having a credit card (or cards) has hurt my credit score, I’ve heard it a number of times, the last one was when I bought the Yaris.

On the subject of changing policy, Verizon recently raised my monthly bill for my home land line by over $10. I called and they said that I had no long distance service so they put me in a Verizon long distance package. I asked that they terminate this, which they did after a 20 minute call trying to get me into another package. I make two long distance calls a month (Mom in Seattle, 30 to 45 minutes each) and I use a calling card at $.05/minute. Their lowest fee for a LD service was around $10/month (plus a minute cost per call) as I recall. This means that I would have to make over 200 minutes of calls to make it cost effective. No, wait a second. I think they also have one with no monthly fee and you pay $.40/minute for LD calls, I wasn’t paying much attention as they talked and talked. I believe they are also hurting for business as more and more folks get cell phones and cancel their land lines.

thanks for the heads up on the "Tactics".
we have always paid off cards

last year we switched to using CASH for Groceries ( if you only have $200 in your pocket to feed the family - you think twice about the "little extras" that can quickly addup)

Do not use debit card - do not trust them - at least the CC gives you some fraud protection.

I will keep my eye on the DUE DATE of the bills.

As stated be someone else - I openly expect them to try to screw me.

Steve

You have 5 days of recourse with a debit card. You would have to sit on your account basically.