mint.com — For many years, the credit card industry has resembled a modern day Wild Wild West. Unrestrained by regulatory discipline, American credit card companies have made life confusing (to say the least) for millions – often with no serious repercussions whatsoever.
Nov 18, 2009 View in Crawl 4
barackalypseNov 19, 2009
I have auto pay set on all my cards, so even if I should happen to forget, I won't encounter any late fees. As to why bother having a card if I'm not really using credit, there are many reasons:1. Internet orders (not everyone takes Paypal or lets you send in a money order)2. Warranty, theft, and return protection3. Rewards4. I don't like keeping much cash on me, its dirty and can be lost or stolen
barackalypseNov 19, 2009
I'd prefer not to have Federal regulation to deal with situations that are easily remedied via other means (for instance, Chase, American Express, and Citibank all have autopay features, so if you set those up it doesn't actually matter when the due date is or how often it changes).
Closed AccountNov 19, 2009
This could actually be true, there are companies that send out credit cards that have a $300 or $500 limit. Come with a one time application/enrollment fee of upwards to $100, come with a yearly fee of upwards of $200 split into 12 monthly payments. Have 30%~ APRs every other scam onto themThat in the end your new credit card has a $70 in available balance. If you calculated those costs into the APR it could easily exceed 50-100%
blacklabelsarNov 19, 2009
Thank you. All of this "just be responsible" and "you didn't have to sign up", etc doesn't speak to the issue of legalized Usury.
wonko33Nov 19, 2009
Yes, and if you refuse the rate increase, they will close your account and you can pay it off with the rate that was agreed. Hard to believe it wasn't like that to start with.
wonko33Nov 19, 2009
Maybe not everyone has the means to pay cash on the spot when things go wrong (car break down, applicable go out). Not everyone in debt used the credit cards for tvs and trips to Cabo.
dragon76Nov 20, 2009
If you're using a credit card, it's fundamentally because you don't have the money to pay for what you are buying. Period. If you had the money you'd pay cash or use your debit card (with pin or as a credit card that immediately takes the money from your account). If the due date changes and you have budgeted to have the funds at a specific time each month, they are f**king up your life.If you were on your way to your job because your work day started at a specific time and then all of a sudden they decided that they were going to start work 2 hours earlier and not tell you that except as an asterisk on your pay cheque, and then you got into work and they write you up for being 2 hours late, you'd be pissed. Imagine that they do this every 6, 9, 18 months. Really, you should just look on your pay stub and see when you are supposed to be in to work, right? Yeah, that really makes my life easy and consistent.