Your Credit Card Interest Rate: Usury?

[Mike03]

The story that got me out of bed this morning--courtesy of ABC radio news on the hour--was a brief interview with a woman who had never missed a payment on her credit card in her life, who had seen her interest rate go from 18% to 28%, as best as I could tell, in one billing cycle, with no warning.

Has anything like this happened to you?

Have you never missed a payment but seen your CC interest rate rise?

Also, have you never missed a payment, and tend to pay off your entire balance each month, and seen your rate rise?

I'd also appreciate the names of the banks.

I'm aware that Bank of America is doing this.

Citibank?

Chase?

Everyone should regard this as a red flag; it's obvious that any bank that would resort to what I regard as legal usury is experiencing extreme deterioration as a direct result of the amount of unsecured debt or sub prime loans that they either own or guarantee.

Have you ever had your credit card account shut down because you pay off your entire balance every month and therefore provide no profit to your cardprovider?

[Deep13]

1. We pay every month, so I have no idea what the interest rate is.

I've never paid any. They have not closed the account. Point of fact, merchants pay 2-4% every time they accept a credit card, so it is not entirely accurate to say they make no profit on us. For us those purchases include hotels, air fare and rental cars.

[zorahopkins]

2. Mafia Loan Sharks

All those banks you name are little more than Mafia loan sharks with nice suits and fancy degrees.

This has happened to me. I had three credit cards, and I was paying each and every one of them on time and as agreed.

Then MBNA (now Bank of America) raised my interest rate to 25% -- 25%!!!!

When I called to complain, and to say that they were actually making it harder for me to get out of debt, the CSR just laughed and said, "We set our rates, and I am not going to lower yours!".

I hope they all rot in Hell.

[Clanfear]

3. My interest rate went down this past month.

Along with a 33% rise in credit limit.

[Mike03]

5. That's interesting

Did you request it?

Citi keeps raising my limit too, for some unknown reason. I have never come close to using my limit on that card.

[Clanfear]

9. I have Citi too

And no, I did not request it. They sent me a notice saying I could request a rate reduction, but they did it before I responded. It was wierd.

[Mike03]

16. Thanks for sharing this.

Citi is a bizarre company; at least, it's hard to get a handle on their strategies.

[Mike03]

4. Just to expand and add one observation

It is not surprising to me that some peoples' rates escalated like this, but what does shock me is that this has happened during the holiday buying season. One would expect this to happen in the first or second quarter of 2008, around the time that so many adjustable rate mortgages are recalibrating.

Am I missing something? There are a few things you would want to keep low until after New Years' and that would be:

Credit card interest rates
Mortgage adjustments
Cost of gas per gallon
Slow down the trickle through of the heightened petroleum prices (transportation)
And the cost of consumer basics/essentials such as food, over the counter medicine--to provide the illusion that inflation is contained.

[terisan]

7. Possibly they raise now because people feel need to charge holiday presents....and don't

realize they will get laid off in January.

[Mike03]

17. Yes, maybe in a strange way they are trying to be humanitarian.

Maybe they know people may put gifts on credit and they are trying to discourage it because they don't want to have to write off a bunch of more loans.

Good post.

[Buzz Clik]

6. Oh, yeah. From 14 to 30 in a couple of months

Paid it off, shredded the card, and changed banks. I never asked why.

[Mike03]

18. Whoa, that escalation is outrageous.

Good for you for paying that card off and moving forward.

That's great; it's not always easy to pay off debt.

[Kucinich4America]

8. They tell us that this is a "Christian" nation, yet usury is specifically forbidden in the bible.

Exodus 22:25
If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.

Leviticus 25:36
Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee.

Leviticus 25:37
Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.

Nehemiah 5: 7
Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I set a great assembly against them.

Nehemiah 5:10
I likewise, and my brethren, and my servants, might exact of them money and corn: I pray you, let us leave off this usury.

Psalm 15:5
He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.

Proverbs 28:8
He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.

Ezekiel 18:8
He that hath not given forth upon usury, neither hath taken any increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed true judgment between man and man

Ezekiel 22:12
In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.

I agree with God. Shut these bastards down!! :grr:

[REP]

10. My interest rate keeps going down, and my limit increases

I pay my bill in full ever month. They do make money off me though, since they charge the merchants something.

[MadHound]

11. Why feed these corporations? Cut up your CC and go to a cash/check basis

Not only will you be denying these corporations funding, but your own personal economic situation will improve.

[Historic NY]

12. Chase has a habit of charging interest..........

even after you have paid your CC balance on time and in full. Just about every month I get another statement for interest and they can't explain why other than its for the time between the statement being mailed and the date paid.........sounds strange. I use overdraft and their system is totally off the wall rather than getting a monthly statement they charge your CC $100 everytime you go over. Its nuts go $20 over and get a CC charge for $100. I have a couple of CD's maturing in March and I'm taking all my money out of their bank in cash. I'm off to a small local savings bank at least I'm a person rather than a number there. Chase has some major quirks that I hate.

[varkam]

13. Citibank raised my limit to 32.5%.

I have been with Citi for years, never missed a payment, always payed more than the minimum. One day, I had to go out and put new ties on my car. I had enough space on my card, but it was the finance charges that put me over the limit. The next day - boom - 32.5% APR.

[malaise]

14. Congress held a hearing on this today

Amazing stories from victims of the 'get down on the floor bankers'

[backscatter712]

15. It's called Universal Default:

The rationale is that if something happens anywhere in your financial dealings, and you get a ding on your credit record with one of the big three credit reporting bureaus, and your FICO score goes down (or even if you did nothing wrong, but Fair Issac changes the FICO formula causing your score to go down), your credit card company will decide that you now have a bigger risk of default, and thus they are justified in raising your interest rate, even if you've paid your credit card bill on time, every time. There's fine print in the credit card contract you signed that says they can do this, and if you don't like it, suck it.

Yeah, one of the reasons why I don't have a credit card anymore.

Fuck credit cards.