A New Era Begins for Credit Cards

This article should have been written at the time the 2009 Credit Card legislation was in the works. Shortly after the proposed legislation, the "notices" started coming in on all my cards about the increases in interest rates and other charges that would be effective in Feb 2010 (some were effective in Jan 2010). Unfortunately, most people (and I used to be one of them) throw away the notices with the tiny print. When the second one came, I read it thoroughly, was outraged, since I carry small balances (if any), have always paid on time and paid way more than the minimum amount. So I have systematically cancelled allcredit cards, even those I have but had not used. (except for 2 that have the lowest interest rates for use in traveling, vacationing, and emergenices. I cancelled because I do not accept the new and outrageous terms. It is no surprise that the legislation was timed to go into effect in Feb 2010. That gave the credit card companies plenty of time to notify the cardholder about the rate hikes and charges in order to "make up" for their anticipated losses. It is not fair to hike rates and charges for ALL customers to make up the losses from other customers who would not or could not pay on time or at all. Sadly, this is another example of how our government tells us they are helping us. Our leaders make it look like a good bill designed to help people. But those "leaders" must never hurt those who back their campaigns. Like the banks. Reading carefully the fine print, even the number of days before a payment is considered late has been reduced. So if one was used to making a payment, say on the 26th of the month, in some cases that is now shortened by 4 to 5 days, meaning one who makes that payment in order to be received by the 26th, would now be late with that payment and have a hefty late charge, not to mention all the other things like a hike in interest rate, etc. Wish this article could have been written back in Nov 2009 for those who don't read the fine print. But then if they don't read the fine print, maybe they would not have read this article either.

J.Minzes of VA 10:38AM February 20, 2010