Credit Cards To Be Fairer

[Woody]

I really can't be responsible for gullible people. Sorry. I want my points.

[Stan]

A single mom buys things needed for her kids on credit, at a good rate.. for what ever reason, x does not pay child support in time, loses her job etc etc and she is 2 days late with her payment.

Now rather than having it paid off in the planned 2 years, it will take 8 or 9 years because of the interest rate hike.

AND you two are fine with that kind of abuse?

I need a vegetarian word for ignorant.

[Woody]

We simply can't solve all the ills of the world by Democrat rules. The world is just not that simplistic.

I still want my miles.

[Stan]

It has nothing to do with Democrats, that is a cop out for those who do not have what it takes to stand up for the oppressed.

[Woody]

It was Obama who proposed the oppressive rules on us who want miles.

[Stan]

I don't care who had the balls to do the right thing, just thankful someone had.

[Outta Here]

Personally, I could care less about the perqs of frequent flyer miles or rewards for using credit cards--I've never used a credit card that offered these. However, I honestly don't believe that the rates these companies offer are outrageous. It is legal and fair to charge one's voluntary customers a rate that is agreed upon by contract. It is the way of democracy and of free enterprise.

[GreatLakesGramma]

A single mom buys things needed for her kids on credit, at a good rate.. for what ever reason, x does not pay child support in time, loses her job etc etc and she is 2 days late with her payment.

Now rather than having it paid off in the planned 2 years, it will take 8 or 9 years because of the interest rate hike.

This is exactly what happened to my daughter earlier this year. The company she worked for went under. Her ex-husband pays no child support, so she is the sole support for herself and her two girls. She always paid off her balance every month, but because her last paycheck couldn't be cashed, the first week of layoff is unpaid in her state, and she had some expensive but necessary car repairs the previous month, she found herself unable to pay the rent on time, or to pay off her credit card balance.

[Stan]

and some folks support that kind of abuse...

[GreatLakesGramma]

Aubrey, currently there is nothing stopping credit card companies from changing interest rates at will, and no limits to how high they can set them, if a customer makes one mistake. Penalties for late payments can be quite high, and if the penalty pushes the balance over the credit limit, they can also add on over-limit fees on a daily basis until the customer brings the balance below the limit. What's more, they don't have to notify the customer that they are over their limit, or that they are adding daily fees. By the time the customer learns that their payment didn't get there in time, they could have hundreds of dollars in penalties, and a balance growing exponentially, faster than they can earn the money to pay it down to the limit and stop the fees. Plus, if the customer sends in a payment before the next due date, the company doesn't have to apply it until the due date actually arrives, thus allowing further daily fees to accumulate. And this is completely legal.

[Outta Here]

It is not the "abuse" that I support, but rather the idea of free enterprise. I also support the local ACS, food bank, homeless shelters, and individuals in various states of financial need.

[bonnie]

Quote:

A single mom buys things needed for her kids on credit, at a good rate.. for what ever reason, x does not pay child support in time, loses her job etc etc and she is 2 days late with her payment.

A credit card company does not bear the responsibility for single moms with a deadbeat ex. Nor do they guarantee against job loss. The government has no right to make a private enterprise responsible for whatever befalls a card holder.The credit card company

Quote:

Now rather than having it paid off in the planned 2 years, it will take 8 or 9 years because of the interest rate hike.

This is not necessarily true either. If you cannot pay the card off,cut it up and cancel your membership. Charge no more and pay anything you can over the required payment. It will be paid of a lot quicker than 8 or 9 years.

Quote:

AND you two are fine with that kind of abuse?

If they are not violating any law or forcing the card holder with a gun to the head the responsibility lays with the cardholder. Read terms and understand what you are signing. Don't use credit as if there is no payback. No free lunches and there certainly won't be with the government involvement.

Quote:

I need a vegetarian word for ignorant.

That is what some of us think when we see liberal.

Those that live on the edge credit wise will continue to do so,only a little easier. Just like the restructured mortgages.

Homeowners to the tune of 60% are in default again.

The government cannot take care of personal finances,but they can make it worse by spreading the misery around to make it "fair'

[bonnie]

Quote:

This is exactly what happened to my daughter earlier this year. The company she worked for went under. Her ex-husband pays no child support, so she is the sole support for herself and her two girls. She always paid off her balance every month, but because her last paycheck couldn't be cashed, the first week of layoff is unpaid in her state, and she had some expensive but necessary car repairs the previous month, she found herself unable to pay the rent on time, or to pay off her credit card balance.

No one is making light of all situations. It seems the tone here is that some of us have not had extreme financial difficulties so have no heart.

Having a heart is not how credit card companies stay in business and competitive.

No more than the paint store was responsible for the dead beat home owner that didn't pay us. The bottom line is if we wanted to keep working we would pay the bill every month.

That meant many times going without ourselves.

The fact remains that the credit card company is not responsible for a dead beat ex or for a company going under. Nor for someone's car repairs.

There will be a hefty price tag for the government playing nanny to everyone

[bonnie]

Quote:

, currently there is nothing stopping credit card companies from changing interest rates at will, and no limits to how high they can set them, if a customer makes one mistake. Penalties for late payments can be quite high, and if the penalty pushes the balance over the credit limit, they can also add on over-limit fees on a daily basis until the customer brings the balance below the limit. What's more, they don't have to notify the customer that they are over their limit, or that they are adding daily fees. By the time the customer learns that their payment didn't get there in time, they could have hundreds of dollars in penalties, and a balance growing exponentially, faster than they can earn the money to pay it down to the limit and stop the fees. Plus, if the customer sends in a payment before the next due date, the company doesn't have to apply it until the due date actually arrives, thus allowing further daily fees to accumulate. And this is completely legal.

Why on earth would someone have to tell me if I am over my limit?

Most of us know to send payment in a timely manner. The credit card company is not responsible for when a payment is sent.

This whole thing is allowing those in a bad financial situation to dig their own hole deeper. Extended credit with no clear time table in mind or the ability to pay off is aiding and abetting a already bad situation. But along with that all that have credit cards pay.

[GreatLakesGramma]

Why on earth would someone have to tell me if I am over my limit?

If the only reason you were over your limit was because for some reason your payment took longer than usual to get there, and the late fees pushed your balance over your limit.

[Dr. Shane]

There are several reasons a person could be over their limit. I went over my limit once because the credit card company charged me an administration fee (that was not an annual fee). That was it for me. I paid them off, cut up the card and have never dealt with those thieving scoundrels again. Personally, I don't think Christians have any business doing business with people of such low repute.

[GreatLakesGramma]

Credit card companies are not responsible for other people's irresponsibility or bad luck. But when they follow predatory practises, it isn't only the irresponsible and gullible who get caught and victimized. And those who say they don't care, they want their miles, if their credit card issuer is one of these predators, are saying they don't care if their miles are paid for by people like my daughter who get caught in a nightmare they can't easily escape. She didn't, because her balance wasn't near the limit, and she did make a payment on time. But some do through no fault of their own, as a result of a single mistake. And they didn't forsee it, because they hadn't yet learned not to trust anyone.

Free enterprise is a good thing. I'm all for free enterprise, and I do not like big government, nor do I trust it. But laws do need to be made to prevent abuses, because companies are run by sinful human beings, many of whom care only for their own advantage, who will do anything they can get away with to enrich themselves at others' expense. Would you have opposed anti-trust laws or child labor laws? Both of those placed restrictions on free enterprise. But both situations victimized those who were least able to protect themselves, and it is a proper function of government to protect the weakest of its citizens from abuse by the more powerful.

A law was needed in this case. Not that I trust our government to pass only whatever law was needed to prevent abuse. That would be a shock. So I have mixed feelings about the new laws. But I would never say I don't care, I want my cashback bonus, if I found that it came from a predatory credit card company. In fact, I don't even want to do business with a company like that, not even once the law prevents them from doing it any more. I don't think my card issuer is one of them, but I am going to look into it.

[GreatLakesGramma]

Personally, I don't think Christians have any business doing business with people of such low repute.

I agree.

[Woody]

The people responsible for those who are victims of dead beat wives and husbands are the church members .... not the credit card companies.

[Dr. Shane]

I don't know any credit card companies that are not predatory. I am sure some are better than others but it is like the difference between being hunted by a jaguar or a crocodile. Neither is a very good option. Credit card companies entice us to apply for their services and then once they have us they look for ways they can raise our interest rate and charge us penalties. Many of these companies make Tony Soprano look like a boy scout.

I don't have one credit card. In our home we have an envelope that is marked "vacation". Each payday we slip some money into it. Those are our cash-back rewards for not using a credit card. We pay our bills on time and slip what would be late fees into a savings envelope. When we take vacation we know it isn't some granny living on Social Security with her heat on 60ºF, eating cat food that is paying for it.

[Woody]

Some people just don't know how to avoid late fees.

[Woody]

I think I might have paid a late fee once or twice in 30 years. I was actually late a few times more than that ... but I just called up the credit card company and said I was sorry. I found them to be so kind and considerate ... they volunteered to reverse the late fee. That was when I became sold on Credit Card companies.

What loving mercy and Grace they offered to me. Thank God.

[Dr. Shane]

Some people have pet tigers. In some parts of the world children swim with crocodiles. I went to a circus once and saw a guy play with fire. I don't have a pet tiger. I don't swim with crocodiles. I don't play with fire. I don't have a credit card.

[Woody]

Served me well for 30 years.

[Dr. Shane]

Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter (Prov. 6:5)