Comments on: Credit Card Companies Evolving Revenue Streams: Penalty for Paying on Time, 79.9% Annual Fee, Rising Charge Offs. The New Credit Card Revenue Streams.

By: Thomas

Thomas — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:56:45 +0000

I just got a letter from Visa and they tell me that my “new yearly fee is now 30 euros”, which, considering the minimal credit limit (800 euros) is quite high. But the point, which they don’t tell, is that raise from current fee is mind blowing 87%!

So I went and returned my credit card(s), I don’t need them that much.

(I have bank’s own debit card which allows me to buy food & gas but it has no credit (just on-line transactions) and even that costs about the same than Visa now. Operating on cash only is quite hard when you can’t even buy gas on most stations as they are cold stations, fully automated.)

By: Carol Price

Carol Price — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:31:48 +0000

I know of a friend who racked up $ 18,000 on a credit card that he had used for many years. He stopped paying and was sued by the company (American Express, I believe). In discovery, he demanded to see proof of the original agreement that he had signed, to prove that he did, indeed, have an agreement and what the terms were back then.
It was so long ago, that the credit card issuer could not produce the agreement, and the case was dismissed for lack of this verification. He walked away from all that credit card debt, and the company could not collect by getting a judgment. A good strategy to keep in mind for those who have had a credit card for a very long time.
Note- many foreclosures are being set aside by judges precisely because the bank suing the homeowner cannot produce the original promissory note. The note is necessary to prove that the bank is the present holder of the note, and therefore has standing to bring a lawsuit for repossession of the property.
Especially see the opinion of federal district Judge Christopher Boyko in a 2007 case entitled In Re Foreclosure Cases. This opinion is posted on the website of the Northern District of Ohio federal court website. The Lexis number is 84011. It is a very instructive case, and a hilarious read.
This strategy is being used successfully by lawyers all across the country. Mortgages have been sold and resold, even carved up between numerous investors, who then resold parts of a mortgage, so the original promissory note is long gone, and unobtainable. No note, no right to sue for foreclosure.
I hope this post helps someone who is about to lose their home, or is being sued by a credit card issuer.

By: Holly

Holly — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:04:08 +0000

CREDIT CARDS = BAD NEWS!!!!!!!!! This is why I don’t have any, and I never will!!!!!!!!!! If I can’t afford to pay cash for it, then I don’t need to be buying it!!!!!!!!!!! This country is GREEDY and it is being run by GREEDY people!!!! Money is the root of all evil, no doubt about it!!! People need to get their priorities straight!!!!!

By: Johnny

Johnny — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:56:25 +0000

I-agree-with-Consumer-One.
Hey,its-only-fair!

By: Chuck

Chuck — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:52:06 +0000

—To everyone who needs to walk away from debt: Declare bankruptcy. Otherwise, you will be sued. They may even wait until you have suffered with bad credit for years before they sue. Judgments basically last forever. They will win the lawsuit. I have looked at hundreds of online court dockets. The defendant loses every time. Mostly by default. You may never even know you are being sued until it is too late. The lawyer for the plaintiff only has to submit an affidavit saying that he served you with a summons. Lawyers don’t always tell the truth. The banks fought to make it more difficult to declare bankruptcy because they know that is the only way insolvent debtors can free themselves.

By: an american

an american — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:18:54 +0000

It is known what everyone is doing. Personal responsibility is hard to accept. We will all suffer the consequences for what some people are doing and so will the people doing it. Enjoy it while it lasts. We have had it too good for too long. Suffering will abound because we are not in shape to weather the coming difficulties, assuming we live long enough.

By: Webe Phuqued

Webe Phuqued — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 07:37:01 +0000

typical corporatist, fascist Amerika. wake up!!! WAKE UP!!!!

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:14:11 +0000

In February 2009, I got my Chase credit card statement. The payment due was more twice what it was the previous month. The balance on my Chase card was a balance transer from a B of A card where I had a fixed 7.99. B of A changed that to 23.99; I always paid on time. I said screw B of A and applied for a Chase card with a balance transfer of 3.99 for the life of the balance transfer. This was in 2007 I did this transfer.

So in February 2009 when I saw mt staement, I called Chase and they what they had done was take my minimum monthly payment from 2% of the balance to 5%, as well as a $10/month transaction fee. Chase said I could go back to 2% minimum monthly and forego the $10 transaction fee if I let them jack my rate up to 7.99.

After three calls, I finally found out the reason was that it’s because I don’t use the card for purchases… the only balance was the transfer at 3.99%.

I filed a complaint with the U.S. Comtroller of Currency. Chase’s Executive Customer Service got in touch with me and they offered the same great deal as stated 2 paragraphs above. I asked if they would wave the $10 transaction fee, and they can keep me at 5% minimum monthly. They said no. I declined their gratious offer above and told them I am just going to willingly default on the account. Of course they babbled on about my credit rating and court. I told them I don’t give a crap about my credit rating and as for them taking me to court for a few thousand dollars, I told them the way I see this playing out is that it will go to collections. I also let them know that I would gladly settle with collections just so Chase doesn’t get the full amount.

A few days after my next staement, I get a letter from Chase stating they reviewed my account and they made a mistake. Everything went back to the way it was….. for now at least .

Screw these C.C. companies…. people are defaulting left and right, and then they are going to mess with the people paying them as they should? If I get another greedy change of terms, I’ll default.

By: Al

Al — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:01:51 +0000

This article hits the nail on the head. I’ve been out of work since December ‘08. I cashed out my pension and liquidated my 401k as unemployment insurance did not cover my bills. I’m now out of money and have watched almost every credit card that my wife and I have get hit with the issues mentioned in this article. In some cases, I was surprised to see an interest rate hike just suddenly appear on my account. When I questioned it, I was told a seperate notice was sent (that I never received) or that the notification was included in my paper statement (which I rarely opened because I track purchases/pay bills online.) For the notices that I did receive and catch, I notified the credit card company that I was not accepting the changes. The result? The account is closed and I pay off with the existing terms. On the ones I did not see notification, the rates jumped (in a couple of cases the rates went from ~12% to 19.99%) and therefore the minimum payment jumped significantly, too.

My mom has excellent credit. A couple of months ago, she received a notice that her credit limit was being slashed from $12k to $3k. She usually pays her cards off monthly, but the debt on this account is mine and I have been paying the bill. The payments are always more than the minimum and always on-time. Her credit score is 795. The bank, however, slashed the limit nonetheless. A few weeks ago, she got a new notice advising the interest rate was jumping, too.

On my credit cards that did not have interest rate hikes, I received notices showing that the credit limits were slashed. On one of my wife’s store-branded cards, the limit went from about $1200 to $800. The balance at the time was $794.xx. The account had been paid on-time and had not been used in months. But they cut the limit and left a whopping $5 available credit on the account.

I looked at all of my credit cards, and out of all the accounts, I had 1 store card that has actually increased my limit in the last 6 months or so, and 1 that has not changed terms at all. The rest? Maxed because of slashed limits, closed because I did not accept changes or closed out of frustration with the issuer. The final result: CONSUMER BAIL OUT. How, you mak ask? Because I have taken it upon myself to stop paying. I’m walking away from the debt. I completely liquidated all of my retirement funds in an effort to keep my credit intact, but instead my FICO score is dropping because my credit utilization has been impacted by the issuers lowering limits.

The more I thought about my bills, the more I realized that the credit card bank needs me more than I need to worry about my credit score. I have a mortgage, 1 vehicle paid off and another that will be paid off within 6 months. I have no major purchases in the forseeable future, so my credit score isn’t pertinent right now. My wife was worried about the need for a card in case of an emergency, but I pointed out that we don’t have any credit available, anyway!

The fact is, I really don’t have the means to pay these accounts since I’m out of work. But even if I find gainful employment in the near future, unsecured debt is the last thing I’m going to be paying as I get caught up on everything else. Hopefully, the bank just writes it off as uncollectible. Let’s face it–Bankruptcy last 10 years. A charged off debt only lasts 7.

I feel no sympathy for them since our tax dollars paid them to not fail, but they paid out huge bonuses, bought other banks, etc. The banks that were too big to fail are now even bigger and still crying about losing money to defaulting accounts.

You know what? It feels kinda nice to stick it to the credit card banks after they have stuck it to me with higher rates, fees, etc for several years. As far as I’m concerned, I quit.

By: RefreshTheTree

RefreshTheTree — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:00:07 +0000

My card company did this. No missed or late payments in 10 years, and they raised my rate by 5%. Thank god I was so responsible, it is really paying off. They get bail outs from the tax payer, and raise rates on the tax payer. Bottom line, the banks are financially raping the average American. Who owns America? China, and the banks. God help us all.