I recently saw a story in USA Today “Chase Adds fee for low-rate credit cards“. It appears that Chase is planning to start charging hundreds of thousands of customers a $10 per month fee for their card. They are also raising minimum payments to 5% from 2%. Let’s look at what this means in real dollars. A customer owing $10,000, not untypical, just went from a minimum payment of $200, to $510. For some people, this is the difference between making the payment and the beginning of late payments, which starts the spiral of late fees, punitively higher interest rates, and impact to one’s credit score.
Shame on you, Chase.
Joe
I say shame on those racking up debt. That’s what happens when one puts himself in the hands of a lender, be it a bank or a loan shark.
Since this generation chose to shudder at the wisdom of our grandparents, let’em learn the hard way. It’s their choice. Grow up.
While I would agree that changing their rates for someone that is already signed up and struggling to pay the bills may not be a good thing to do, people really need to change the way they operate. Credit cards should not be used unless it is an emergency. Instead they should save up for something before purchasing it. Its really sad the way our culture has become, instead of waiting for things and earning them people feel they are entitled and go out and get it right away. I use my credit card regularly which can be a good idea if regulated and even provide a benefit(free miles or some other reward system as well as 30 more days until you have to pay it off thus earning slightly more interest), however, I also pay off the credit card every month. I live by the adage that if I couldn’t withdraw enough cash from my account(I tend to not carry much cash) to pay for something then I will not buy it (house and car being the exceptions).
So while the banks are definitely to blame, people need to look in the mirror as well when assigning blame.
For every person who spent $2000 on credit to buy the big TV, there’s a guy who charged a $2000 medical bill, working, but for a company with no insurance. So I have a tough time making any generalities. Are most debtors irresponsible? Maybe. Is it half? I really don’t know how the numbers fall. When I hear people talk about their bills, I should ask, “did you fall on tough times, or are you an idiot”?