MSN: "The credit card party is officially over" (0% balance transfers, etc.)

[El Pinko]

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/CreditCardSmarts/TheCreditCardPartyIsOfficiallyOver.aspx


The credit card party is officially over
Don't count on those 0% offers anymore. As banks stick even good customers with higher rates and tighten up on credit lines and balance transfers, you need to think about protecting yourself.

By Liz Pulliam Weston
The notice would have been easy to dismiss as junk mail, since Bank of America's name wasn't on the envelope. But former banker LaShana Jefferson of Portsmouth, Va., recognized the return address as a Bank of America processing center, so she took the time to open the letter.

Inside, she found a notice that the 8.79% interest rate on her credit card was about to soar to 24.99%. At first she thought there was a mistake.

"I've never paid late. I haven't opened any new accounts or made any big purchases," said Jefferson, who used to be a project manager in Bank of America's government-cards division and says her credit scores are in the mid-700s. "There's nothing adverse that would explain this."

Jefferson didn't realize at the time that she was among a fleet of Bank of America customers whose rates had been jacked up recently as the lender, along with other credit card issuers, struggles with higher delinquencies and fallout from the credit crunch.

[Warpy]

1. I got one of those 0% for transferred balance come ons last week

If I hadn't been smart enough to get rid of my VISA card in 1991, I might have needed to take them up on the offer.

Rates are going up across the board. Minimum payments will at least double and possibly triple. People are going to be spending the bulk of their income servicing all their debt: mortgage, car loan, credit cards, student loans. They'll be eating on pennies and lines at food banks will be getting longer.

I expect to do a lot of teaching about how to survive in a post plastic world.

[Donnachaidh]

2. well perhaps now all those folks who blamed the soaring rates on people having trouble

paying their bills (due to soaring interest rates) will finally realize that NO ONE is bulletproof when the banks want to keep a *healthy profit margin*.

This is WHY the credit card companies should be reined in, and regulated within an inch of their lives. NO ONE is immune to the racketeering they've come to employ. Not even the *good* customers.

[2Design]

6. I have written in my bill paying book - mafia and they are willing to

cut off your legs, life and limbs to get money from you - just remember they are trouble

[cliffordu]

3. I haven't had a credit card or balance on one for five years now...

Best thing I could have done. Period.

Think: Christ drove money lenders from the temple, not drug addicts or prostitutes or Queers or the mentally ill or the homeless, or blacks or liberals (!) or Jews (!!):

He drove the money lenders away. With a whip. If you can believe JC Superstar.....

[Aviation Pro]

4. Credit card free since 2004....

...cash is king.

[live love laugh]

7. Same here. Debit card only. Last time I used a credit card was when I lost my debit card.

As soon as I got it back, I paid off the few purchases I made. I and risk averse--I hate BILLS and debt and financial losses.

[2Design]

5. I still order the ones where the purchases are 0% and then stop

using the last one and pay it down before the 0% expires - I hope to be done with this method soon - but it has been one foot in front of the other to stay ahead of the piper - I used to use the 0% transfers until they started charging the 3% or 75 dollar minimum - down to one real credit card to pay down - I use another for gas and groceries because I get 5 back for every 100 - is that right? - anyway at 5000 I get a $50 check - so I am working on getting out of debt but have been moving it around for over 15 years as I have worked on getting degrees and income - it is low income but higher than last year - it has taken a lot of creative financing in a world that does not pay decent wages anymore - even with degrees - I have been quite resourceful

[AlphaCentauri]

8. "The credit card party" Hey that's a good name for the republican party(nt)

[JDPriestly]

9. The Bible very clearly and frequently condemns usury

Here are a few examples:

Leviticus allows usury against strangers, but not against a brother.

In later books, usury is condemned altogether.

# Psalm 15:5
He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.
Psalm 15:4-5 (in Context) Psalm 15 (Whole Chapter)
# Proverbs 28:8
He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.
Proverbs 28:7-9 (in Context) Proverbs 28 (Whole Chapter)

Ezekiel 18:13
Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.
Ezekiel 18:12-14 (in Context) Ezekiel 18 (Whole Chapter)
http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=usury&x=0&y=0

In contrast, the Bible's comments about homosexuality if there are any are unclear, round-about and rare. Why don't born-again Christians get as excited about the sins of usury and greed as they are about "sins" having to do with sex? I don't get it.

[cliffordu]

11. EXACTLY! Thanks!

[aquart]

10. Usury.

[laylah]

13. While talking to

a customer service rep at my mortgage company a few days ago, I explained usery to her and suggested she look it up in the dictionary. There was a time it was illegal! Now, it is business as usual :mad:

[soothsayer]

12. how on earth are credit card companies allowed to charge such outrageous rates??

why do we allow this???

[JDPriestly]

14. And depositors are lucky to get 4% interest.

Where does the money go? The current laissez faire policies regarding credit card interest are one of the most important factors causing our economic turbulence. We need a policy on interest that discourages irresponsible credit card loans.

[Xenotime]

15. My thoughts exactly.

Why isn't there regulation or legislation on this issue.

[malaise]

16. I never went to that party

I don't own one and never owned one. Fuck credit cards.

[spinbaby]

17. Skyrocketing interest rates

in spite of a low prime rate. Bastards. And with skyrocketing costs there are more people charging food and gas at usurious interest rates.

[Imagevision]

18. And the laws now states you can't write off Credit cards when filing for bankruptsy