America's New Slaveholders - The Credit Card Industry

[Vinnie From Indy]

BushCo., The GOP and, sadly, several Democrats have finally given the large credit and financial institutions the green light to begin enslaving huge numbers of Americans by passing the bankruptcy bill.

The obscene bankruptcy bill to take effect this month means that the credit card companies have nothing to fear anymore. They will own you till you die if you borrow money and they now have Uncle Sam as their collection agent. Trust me, starting in November '05, watch the credit card companies get some of what the oil companies have been getting from Americans under BushCo. - your money! They are so ready to tee off on their cardholders they can't wait. Some companies have already started their assault by doubling the monthly minimums and the next phase is to jack up the APR for ANY AND ALL late payments. Watch also as the almost non existent restraint on distributing cards to bad credit risks is finally rendered extinct. Everyone from pre-schoolers to seniors will receive offers for credit. Think of it as the tobacco model of marketing. Get 'em hooked and you own them for life. It will get very ugly when the economy tanks and people are floundering by the millions. What a country we have become.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

1. YOU'VE GOT THAT STRAIGHT

BASTARDS

I don't have a single credit card anymore. Learned the hard way.

[Chipper Chat]

2. It already started for me last month.

I accidentally paid my monthly payment online a day EARLY. That meant 30 days went by on the SAME billing cycle with no payment. I not only got a $35 late payment fee but my interest rate went up from 16.80 to 32.80!!!! I complained and they reversed the late payment fee, but the interest rate remained at 32%. Moneygrubbers (Capital One).

[Union Thug]

5. Which is I prefer the mafia to the credit card companies..

GEEEZUS.. even a loan shark would blush at 32% interest.

Time to pay off all my cards..and a little extra..so they owe me money...and cut them to pieces...

[ticapnews]

7. Citibank tried that crap with me last month...

posted on the account that I didn't pay, but I had a confirmation email and the money had been deducted from my checking account. They apologized and reversed the late fee, but my interest rate stayed at 30.49%, which was confirmed in the notice I got this week.

Screw 'em, I'm done with credit cards now.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

3. And I was thinkin

Now HERE'S a service we could seriously boycott as a group and do some damage.

[ticapnews]

4. I got three notices from credit card companies this week...

The interest rate on one card went from 7.99% to 18.99%, one from 8.99% to 19.99% and a third from 14.99% to 30.49%

Happily, my credit cards are now tiny pieces of shredded plastic in a landfill somewhere.

[Vinnie From Indy]

8. I just got "jacked" as well.

They were shocked when I called and asked for my payout. They re-ajusted everything back to where it was and begged me to "keep the communication lines open" and not drop the card. I laughed and said that if you guys are treating an excellent, longtime customer like me this way I shudder to think of how you are treating the less fortunate.

[lcordero2]

6. It's kind of curious that those mfers started putting

rfid/paypass on credit/debit cards. It seems like they are just BEGGING for their customers to be defrauded.

[cdsilv]

9. I have two 'cards'

one is a debit card, and one is a 'secured' credit card.

I have the debit for obvious reasons, and use the secured card so that I can stay in a hotel, and rent cars. The secured card is paid in full every month.

I hate having to have ANY plastic, but that is the society we live in.

[belle]

10. I'm planning to pay off my debt with a lump sum this month, and

from now on my goal is to do just that--stick to the debit (better yet, cash when possible), and use the credit card only rarely, and pay it off in full every month.

The ironic thing is this particular piece of plastic is theoretically Working Asset's card--but the actual amount going to the causes espoused by Working for Change is negligible, relatively speaking, while the whole schmear is owned by MBNA, that bastion of liberalism. Fuck that shit.

[OneBlueSky]

11. what we need is a massive, one-time cancellation of all . . .

credit card debt . . . and a fresh start for everyone suckered into the system by the banks and credit card companies . . . sure, a few banks would go under, but so what? . . . all that extra disposable income would give the economy a hell of a boost . . . and that boost could instigate a REAL Manhattan Project for getting the country off the oil tit over the next decade or two . . . everyone wins except MBNA, Providian, and a few other assorted criminal enterprises masquerading as financial institutions . . .

[The2ndWheel]

12. Morning Mr. Durden

Can't say I disagree.

[drhilarius]

13. They got me, too...

Minimum payment went from between 10-15, depending on the balance, and starting last month it's been between $90-100. I, luckily enough, am able to pay my balance in full every month, but I know there are people out there who can't handle a jump in minimums like that.