Sweet Jesus - I just got a credit card offer with awful rates

[Rabrrrrrr]

Fucking swine.

The banking industry - especially credit cards - need some serious fucking regulating.

This card has

a $50 activation fee

a MINIMUM APR of 23.99% (15.74% + Prime Rate, but never to go below 23.99%)

a late-payer MINIMUM of 29.99%

a $10.95 ($131.40 annual) monthly maintenance fee

It has no grace period for repayment of balances, which I take to mean that even if one pays the entire balance, that one has still been charged daily interest rates.

All for a $1000 credit limit.

What the fuck?! Sad thing is, I'm sure people are accepting this offer and will get themselves further screwed by the banking industry.

This is fucking ridiculous.

[matcom]

1. holy shit!

i haven't seen an 'offer' that bad since we got financially stable about 15 years ago!

sad thing is that the ones who will eat that up already have shitty credit!

[Richardo]

2. I caught part of the fine print on one of those payday loan commercials

99.95% APR.

The pitchman? Gary Coleman. He ought to be ashamed of himself.

[AllegroRondo]

7. The legal limit for APR in Texas is over 200%

and those payday loan companies will push that too. When I was in the Army there, they warned us about them. One of their "scams" to get around the legal APR limit was to require you to "buy" a coffee mug for $20 to qualify for the loan.

[myrna minx]

9. I did a double take on that too.

I could not believe that I read the APR properly so I made a note to look for it the next time I saw that commercial. I couldn't believe it. It would be wiser to borrow money from Tony Soprano.

[bridgit]

3. Jesse James had it all wrong, he should have *opened* a bank...

:banghead:

[HERVEPA]

5. See next to last verse

If you’ll gather ’round me, children,
A story I will tell
‘Bout Pretty Boy Floyd, an outlaw,
Oklahoma knew him well.

It was in the town of Shawnee,
A Saturday afternoon,
His wife beside him in his wagon
As into town they rode.

There a deputy sheriff approached him
In a manner rather rude,
Vulgar words of anger,
An’ his wife she overheard.

Pretty Boy grabbed a log chain,
And the deputy grabbed his gun;
In the fight that followed
He laid that deputy down.

Then he took to the trees and timber
To live a life of shame;
Every crime in Oklahoma
Was added to his name.

But a many a starving farmer
The same old story told
How the outlaw paid their mortgage
And saved their little homes.

Others tell you ’bout a stranger
That come to beg a meal,
Underneath his napkin
Left a thousand dollar bill.

It was in Oklahoma City,
It was on a Christmas Day,
There was a whole car load of groceries
Come with a note to say:

Well, you say that I’m an outlaw,
You say that I’m a thief.
Here’s a Christmas dinner
For the families on relief.

Yes, as through this world I’ve wandered
I’ve seen lots of funny men;
Some will rob you with a six-gun,
And some with a fountain pen.

And as through your life you travel,
Yes, as through your life you roam,
You won’t never see an outlaw
Drive a family from their home.

Lyrics as recorded by Woody Guthrie, RCA Studios, Camden, NJ, 26 Apr 1940

[bridgit]

6. i'm say'n...

[racaulk]

4. Tear that shit in half and chunk it into your wastebasket post-haste!

That is just absolutely absurd! As the big banks merge they are become more predatory in their lending practices, IMHO, and it's only going to get worse. And I agree that it's sad that some people feel they have to take advantage of offers like this, probably those that are already in dire financial straits.

But you know, "personal responsibility" and all that jazz. :eyes:

[LeftyFingerPop]

8. Not so long ago, that would have been considered usury. n/t

[hunter]

10. I like the "This is a real check!" offers.

29.99% interest, and huge late fees.

It's always a bright spot in my day to put a $5,000 (or more) check through the shredder.

My wife and I used to get checks like that from the military too. "$10,000! Use this check for anything you want! We'll pay your student loans too!" The fine print on those things was even worse than that 29.999% interest...

[Rabrrrrrr]

12. "Cash this $1000 check and we'll automatically deduct $500 from your checking account

every month until you die because you'll never figure out how to actually contact us to have it stopped"

I think that after stopping the illegal war in Iraq, the banking industry has to be top priority.

[Wapsie B]

17. Oh yeah.

And bankers might wonder why some view them as lower than whale shit.

[Orsino]

11. "Here. Put these chains on." n/t

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

13. I'm sure you signed up right away.

Good grief! I've never seen one quite that bad.

[Midlodemocrat]

14. We've been getting those since my FIL died.

He left a balance on his credit card and didn't have any life insurance, so the company (MBNA !)wrote it off, but I guess it went against his credit.

They wanted me to pay it, but given how I was paying for his funeral, I declined.

[LSK]

15. Joe Biden for President!!!!

Of MBNA!!!

:patriot:

[ben_meyers]

16. You could decline the offer.

n/t

[Rabrrrrrr]

18. No I can't. If they send it to me, I have to accept it. It's just politeness.