BoA & CC Rates

[TickTock]

Sweet. Need more profit? Jack up credit card rates. It's legal.

Bank of America blindsiding cardholders? - MSN Money

 

[clifp]

I knew there was a reason I owned BofA. Woohoo higher profits.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

I have a fool proof secret for not paying higher interest rates. Dont carry a balance . I should put that in my news letter.

 

[brewer12345]

I know reading is hard, but surely someone out there has read the fine print in CC agreements. The language is written all in the card issuer's favor, and gives them broad lattitude to reduce availability, jack rates, raise fess, etc. Read the fine print on any HELOC: not so easy for the lender to raise rates or fees, but tehy can certainly cut you off or reduce the size of the line if they wish.

 

[FIREd]

It's kind of funny, Capital One sent me a letter a few years ago telling me that they would jack up the rate on my credit card from 6.99% to 14.99% because of a "rising interest rate environment" (and not because of a late payment or any other fault of my own). Now that interest rates are going down I am waiting for them to lower my rate... . I don't care either way, I don't use the card...

 

[thefed]

ugggh. see my BofA thread. And Discover. They disgust me

 

[Hamlet]

I agree that they have the right to do this, but it seems like really bad business. It's pretty easy to get another credit card. Seems like they're setting themselves up for a mass exodus of customers.

I know that I would make sure I got rid of their card on general principle.

I know reading is hard, but surely someone out there has read the fine print in CC agreements. The language is written all in the card issuer's favor, and gives them broad lattitude to reduce availability, jack rates, raise fess, etc. Read the fine print on any HELOC: not so easy for the lender to raise rates or fees, but tehy can certainly cut you off or reduce the size of the line if they wish.

 

[jazz4cash]

I know reading is hard, but surely someone out there has read the fine print in CC agreements. The language is written all in the card issuer's favor, and gives them broad lattitude to reduce availability, jack rates, raise fess, etc. Read the fine print on any HELOC: not so easy for the lender to raise rates or fees, but tehy can certainly cut you off or reduce the size of the line if they wish.

Yeah....I read it once or twice, but after they keep re-revising things, it becomes tough to keep up. After being burned a few times, I just look at a few key things and don't get much worth stoozing anymore anyway.
Strangely, I still view credit cards as a privilege, not a right and there's still good competition so vote with your feet. My credit unions always run attractive rates and terms. BofA has gotten pretty sneeky lately with some of the opt-out letters and other wierdness, but I never use them except for overdraft protection anyway. They could cut cost by not mailing me advance checks twice a week.

We the lender can and will do whatever we want whenever we want and there's not a damn thing you can do about it, you scumbag customer.

 

[Tadpole]

Well, I'll have to wait for the next statement. My husband opens the mail and said if we got the letter he didn't notice the fine print and threw it away. We always pay off the entire balance which is never more than $1500. My husband sends a check the day after we get the bill which is usually 7 days after the billing date. A few months ago I noticed that the due date was coming and the credit card bill was not paid. Sure enough he had sent in the check almost two weeks prior. The next day was the due date and I called BofA. They said wait and see. I said no, transfer a minimum payment from my checking today. They transferred $15 from the checking, processed the check the next day, charged me $15 for the pay by phone, thought better of it and credited me with the $15 dollars they had charge for the phone service. Since then my checks have been processed more speedily than ever before but I have always wondered if they would have continued to sit on the check if I had not called.
So Billing date = 15th of every month +-1
Date bill is received = 21st of every month or later
Due date is = 5th of next month after billing date
Location of checking account and MMkt - BofA
Moral - never take a vacation that spans BofA CC dates.

I have been wondering when they will start charging exorbitant fees for transfers to other banks. There MMkt rates are low so I frequently transfer pots of money elsewhere. I just use the account at BofA to build up the pots.

I always wonder why a bank thinks that someone who cannot pay their bills will be less a risk if they owe more from high rates. Why don't they just tell the people they consider a risk that they have the card as long as they don't hold another card?

Risk transfer to good clients causes good clients to go bye-bye. BofA just might find themselves left with only the clients that cannot pay. Stockholders lose.

On second thought they might consider me to be a undesirable client since I avoid ever paying them a fee for anything and would leave if I found a new fee on my transactions.

 

[dumpster56]

They don't want people who pay off their balances in full every month. In fact it would not be a stretch that they are raising the rates so high that you will drop their card.

There are sooo many people that carry a balance and have rates in the 21% range.