Credit Card Companies
My wife received a notice in the mail today from her credit card that effective February 1, 2007 they will begin to charge interest on the day of purchase. Now most people throw these notices away without reading them. That can be a costly oversight because rising fees is becoming a trend in the industry.
This is just the beginning for more draconian measures by credit card companies. With Congress’ blessing they have started to milk every dollar out of cardholders that they can.
0% balance transfers might be a thing of the past soon. Currently, there is usually a transfer fee that goes along with the balance transfer. I have only done these transfers when there was no charge that went along with the transaction. A Smartmoney.com article can help you decide if you should transfer a balance from one credit card to another. Do not count on this free money in the future.
Rewards are dwindling into oblivion. Those cards that offered 5% back on gas and groceries are changing their tune. Most companies already have started cutting back their reward plans so do not count on these as a permanent help to you.
Also, watch out for the other fees associated with credit cards. Companies are more scrutinized so they have changed tactics by increasing fees on things that are not so obvious. For example, instead of jacking up the most expensive fee for a late payment, they hike the lower tiers of fees so it can go under the radar.
Credit is an important thing to have, but the credit card industry might go too far this time and begin to lose customers or invite a governmental investigation. The more calls our representatives in Congress get the more pressure they will put on credit card companies to change these trends. We shall see what happens.
If you want to see some cards that are still offering good deals take a look at Consumerism Commentary blog.
A devil’s advocate view is posed by Blueprint.
Written by Nagel on December 28th, 2006 with no comments.
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