Posted on 05/02/2008 11:05:17 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
increasing the annual percentage rate on an outstanding balance unless certain exceptions apply.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
“The Federal Reserve is expected to approve on Friday a proposal that would restrict various billing practices of credit card companies, including double-cycle billing and unreasonable ‘late’ charges.”
In agreement with this. It’s amazing how they can “lose” or “delay” posting your payment for over a week...and the suddenly your rate is jacked up.
Of course, best bet is just ditch your CCs.
Citibank pulled this crap with me recently. So after 19 years without a late payment, I ditched them.
Didn’t cancel the card, just put it in the safe until it expires. Let them send me zero balance statements for a couple years.
Good move.
Plus, not cancelling immediately while using a card from a new source shouldn’t ding my credit rating.
Most won't send zero balance statements but if you can put, say, an 11 cent credit on one by a slight overpayment they will have to keep sending the statements. At least in my experience they don't refund negative balances less than a dollar.
Agreeing with this. Noticed that credit card bills are mailed about two weeks before the due date. That, coupled with mailing the remittance with enough lead time to avoid the late payment fee/interest rate hike, means a turnaround time of five days. Going on vacation for 11 days & I have to make sure the check(s) are in the mail on time - hard to do since I won’t get the bills until after I leave.
I do it all on the net now — roughly 12 payments/month to various places. Haven’t had a single problem since I stopped mailing the payments.
How about the days between when your payment is charged to your account by the “processing center” and when it appears on your statement? Someone is making lots of money there..... Lots of late charges are accrued with this delay.
It happened to me, when I knew I had paid with enough lead time for the mail, etc. (Which sucks since 9-11).
When I checked my payment against my bank statement and the date it was applied to my c card statement, there was a 4 day difference. I told them that they HAD to remove my “late fee” and any reference to my “Late fee” in their records. I really got snarly with the c card rep on the phone. He tried to say the delay was out of the control of the c card company, and I reminded him that the c card company had hired the “processing center”—not ME!!!! As a hireling of the c card company, they were absolutely responsible!!!
I got my fee refunded, and I got my point across. Let’s see if they can tightened up on this practice in Congress.....
Let’s hope they outlaw universal default, too.
I saw this Yingling on a special called “The Secret Life of Credit Cards”, and he’s just a shill for bankers.
Truman was right about bankers, you know.
I will probably switch to doing it on the net at some point. Thanks!
That'll work until they decide to start charging you annual fees. Also if you want to cancel the card you can't just call them up and say "cancel the account" because they will lie to you and tell you they will and then they won't. You need to request that they send you a written statement, via U.S. Mail, telling you that they have cancelled it. They must comply with that request.
Online banking is the way to go- most payments made online get posted the next business day, two days tops.
Carolyn
These guys rank up there with the oil companies in coming up with the smarmiest excuse on why they should be allowed to continue screwing the consumer.
Appreciate the information. I’m going to look into it.
Kickin’ and screamin’ I go into the 21st century... LOL
BUMP!
How about predatory lending practices? July 1998, college orientation, and the line we had to wait in for our student IDs was lined with lenders, credit card companies, etc. I got my first 2 credit cards in that line, and over the years, I ran them up, paid them off with student loans, etc. etc.
Thankfully now I’m out of CC debt, but the card and student loans are still there.
CC's are for responsible people, not overly-dependant dweebs. Think of it this way, did the CC company front the money for the goods you wanted to buy? Of course. Shouldn't you be prepared to pay them back on time? They did their part, now do yours.
Rant off.
Fed expands auction, accepts wider collateral ( bonds backed by auto loans and credit cards.???)
Same here, for at least three years. Saves time and stamps, and no problems with "lost checks" and subsequent late fees.
I pay mine at the bank. Nobody in her right mind uses Canada Post for anything that has a deadline.
Hell I know a “guy” who lends money and only charges 20%. He has adjustable rates depending on the amount you borrow too. The cc companies are worst then the loan sharks!
Note: I have never borrowed money from the guy, we are just acquaintances.
This is the thing that ticks me off the most. I remember one time I forgot how much money I had in checking and I made one charge near the end of the month that put me in overdraft. The bank could have simply not accepted the charge and I would have put it on a credit card for the week until my paycheck came, but instead they took it, rearranged the charges for that day and the day before (since it was a weekend) to put it at the front and charged me $10 overdraft for every charge I made all weekend. It ended up being over $100. The bank refused to refund any of the money.
I ended up closing all my accounts at the bank and warning everyone else off. The bank was Washington Mutual.
***I pay mine at the bank. Nobody in her right mind uses Canada Post for anything that has a deadline.***
I pay mine at the bank, too, and I’m not in Canada. I make sure I get a receipt so that the credit card company can’t say they didn’t get it in time.
Online bill pay is crucial IMO if you have a lot of accounts (mortgage/car/credit cards/student loans/electricity/etc)
You think it’s crybaby expecting a bill and processing payments in a relatively normal fashion? Geeze get real. I do online payments now entirely and never had a problem but back when I relied on checks and snail mail it was amazing how many times I 1) never received a bill 2) sent my payment in 2 weeks in advance but didn’t get credit until the day after my due date. These companies are very, very predatory and change your contract for any reason all of the time. I have seen many people with 0 lates get rate jacked by several different credit card companies for no reason. Consumers should do their due diligience but the companies lending the money should do their part as well.
Almost all banks do that, especially on weekend payments. Criminal IMO. I try to never go below $500 now in my checking account for just that reason.
I’ve been paying my discover card bill and visa bill online for years now. I prefer to do it that way, i am in control as to when the payment gets posted rather than wondering when they received the check.
Also, being there’s a benefit to being able to view your activity online rather than waiting till you get your bill, it allows you to monitor all your charges which are posted about a day or two after the charge has been made.
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