79% interest rate on credit card

[megacorp-firee]

OK, where is the government regulations protecting us?
For real: A 79.9% interest credit card- Smart Spending - MSN Money

It's time for us citizens to start writing our congressmen/women and complain. We get what we 'settle for'. This really p*sses me off, even though I pay off my cards each month. It's no wonder we are where we are now. The people elected to protect us are selling us a dollar at a time down the river. GET MAD!

[REWahoo]

Take two and call Rich in the morning.

[rescueme]

I can't get too excited about whatever interest rate they want to attach to a credit card.

As many others, I use my CC, but pay it in full every month.

If you wish to pay the "stupid tax", that's up to you, IMHO...

[megacorp-firee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rescueme I can't get too excited about whatever interest rate they want to attach to a credit card. As many others, I use my CC, but pay it in full every month. If you wish to pay the "stupid tax", that's up to you, IMHO...

I agree with you in part, however, this is just indicative of the 'great service' we get from our legislators. Forget about protecting us, how about not selling us out for a buck? a slippery slope

[megacorp-firee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Take two and call Rich in the morning.

Yeah, I think I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today ... unusual for me ...

[Trek]

Look, this is the capitalistic market economy at it's best. The target of this campaign is poor people with bad credit. They clearly demand much higher interest rates and this company is filling a void that didn't exist for them.

Anyone who questions such a program and suggests government intervention to stop it could easily be labeled a socialist, or worse. Do you want to be on that list?

[Westernskies]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trek Look, this is the capitalistic market economy at it's best. The target of this campaign is poor people with bad credit. They clearly demand much higher interest rates and this company is filling a void that didn't exist for them. Anyone who questions such a program and suggests government intervention to stop it could easily be labeled a socialist, or worse. Do you want to be on that list?

[mickeyd]

No mention at all in the article about how to avoid this high interest rate. Evidently it's still a secret that a CC customer can pay off the balance monthly and lower their annual cost by 79.9%!

[rescueme]

Quote:

Originally Posted by megacorp-firee this is just indicative of the 'great service' we get from our legislators.

Now that's funny ...

I only expect "service" from hookers (wait - maybe our elected officials are of such ilk ?)...

[ziggy29]

I don't know. On one hand I think no one holds a gun to the head of people who sign on for this toxic stuff, but on the other hand, the peddlers of this garbage know they are dealing with desperate people who are really barely even able to give informed consent because they feel like there is no other hope.

In a way, the issuers who peddle this garbage remind me a bit of pimps who look for financially desperate women, and then convince them that selling their bodies (for a VERY huge ultimate price) is their only chance to resolve their desperate finances. They both know they are targeting the desperate folks who will resort to desperate measures because of their dire straits, and indeed an argument can be made that their agreement to these deals are only borderline consensual, if consensual at all.

I'm all for parties entering into a consensual contractual agreement, but the desperation of one of the parties entering the transaction calls the true "informed consent" of the desperate party into real legal question.

In any event, legality aside, these folks are right up there with the payday lenders in the ethics department. Coyotes preying on the near-dead so they can finish killing them, methinks.

(See also: lottery tickets.)

[Leonidas]

After reading the article I've got to say that I find the honesty somewhat refreshing.

Quote:

That’s what happened here. The First Premier Bank subprime credit card -- still available online -- used to come with $256 in fees in the first year for a card with a $250 limit, Choi reported. New credit card rules in February will limit those fees to 25% of the card’s credit line. So First Premier lowered its fees in its new preapproved snail-mail offers to comply with the new law -- but upped the interest rate on the card from 9.9% to that eye-popping 79.9%.

I bet the old way, $256 in fees, was pretty well hidden in the fine print on the agreement, but that interest rate is going to be a lot easier to see and find. Of course there will still be idiots who grab hold of anchors like this as they try to keep their heads above water, but for most people with just a fair amount of fiscal sense can see how expensive it would be to borrow money at those rates. No hidden fees or gotchas - I like it.

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leonidas I bet the old way, $256 in fees, was pretty well hidden in the fine print on the agreement, but that interest rate is going to be a lot easier to see and find. Of course there will still be idiots who grab hold of anchors like this as they try to keep their heads above water, but for most people with just a fair amount of fiscal sense can see how expensive it would be to borrow money at those rates. No hidden fees or gotchas - I like it.

No doubt that full disclosure and transparency are better. But they have to know they are preying on desperate people, much like payday lenders.

[Leonidas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ziggy29 No doubt that full disclosure and transparency are better. But they have to know they are preying on desperate people, much like payday lenders.

Oh no doubt! They are selling anchors to drowning people, but at least they're not labeling them as "buoyancy devices" anymore.

[scrabbler1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rescueme I can't get too excited about whatever interest rate they want to attach to a credit card. As many others, I use my CC, but pay it in full every month. If you wish to pay the "stupid tax", that's up to you, IMHO...

I agree. Other than home mortgage and student loan interest, I always considered paying interest the biggest waste of money possible. If an item costs $100, then pay $100. If you charge it and pay interest on it, you are paying $105 or $110 or more for the same item but receive nothing additional for the extra dollars you pay for it. The extra $5 or $10 is, as you put it so well, a "stupid tax".

My bank recently upped my CC interest rate to 16%. "Big freakin' deal," I thought. As long as the card has no annual fee and retains a grace period on new purchases providing there is no carryover balance from the prior month, that is fine with me. And my bank has a branch down the street from me so I can take a stroll there and pay the bill in person, perhaps in cash, while avoiding any possible shenanigans about a payment being received "late".

[megacorp-firee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trek Look, this is the capitalistic market economy at it's best. The target of this campaign is poor people with bad credit. They clearly demand much higher interest rates and this company is filling a void that didn't exist for them. Anyone who questions such a program and suggests government intervention to stop it could easily be labeled a socialist, or worse. Do you want to be on that list?

That's funny . I've got to show this to my buddies, ... they would tell you I'm the last person anyone would label a socialist. I am one for free enterprise too. I also am for less government. ... but sometimes society has to put laws and regulations in place to keep the crooks, cheats, and the other Madoffs of the world in check. If the infinitely wise people in Washington had not made the decisions to take some of the regulations off of the financial systems or had ignored how some of the institutions were abusing the system, then we might not be in the mess we're in.

As to what you might label me, I'm too old to really care what people think about me .

[Trek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by megacorp-firee ...but sometimes society has to put laws and regulations in place...

Sure, let the government lower CC interest rates and then they'll want to take away our guns!

[Zathras]

Quote:

Originally Posted by megacorp-firee OK, where is the government regulations protecting us? For real: A 79.9% interest credit card- Smart Spending - MSN Money It's time for us citizens to start writing our congressmen/women and complain. We get what we 'settle for'. This really p*sses me off, even though I pay off my cards each month. It's no wonder we are where we are now. The people elected to protect us are selling us a dollar at a time down the river. GET MAD!

Does the question of how much they actually do make on these cards enter the equation at all?
This is a very high risk card from what I have seen. What if they only clear 1% due to defaults and other costs?