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No Credit To Them
The whole credit card thing lately got me curious, so I looked up some information online. What I found horrified me. I knew that credit cards had some sleazy practices, but the stuff that they're doing - that almost all of them are doing - is just so bad, so totally beyond what I'd imagined, that it's simply stunning.
For example, the penalty rate. Credit cards advertise great starting rates, but hidden in the fine print are a lot of pitfalls: scenarios that allow them to raise your rate to a penalty rate of 30% or more. That does not just include missing one or more payments. It can include things like being late on any other bill, even if it has nothing to do with the credit card company in any way, or even something like a demotion at work! And they don't tell you up front that you're now on the penalty rate - you have to decode your bill and figure it out.
Then there are credit counselors: free services which help people in trouble to get their finances in order. One of the things they do is contact creditors, including credit card companies, and negotiate a set monthly payment schedule. In the past, credit card companies would usually lower the interest rate a bit for a customer who was working with a credit counselor.
Not any more. Now, they raise the rates, instead - by as much as 50%. It's sheer evil.
There's a lot more, which makes The Credit Card Trap well worth checking out.
For example, the penalty rate. Credit cards advertise great starting rates, but hidden in the fine print are a lot of pitfalls: scenarios that allow them to raise your rate to a penalty rate of 30% or more. That does not just include missing one or more payments. It can include things like being late on any other bill, even if it has nothing to do with the credit card company in any way, or even something like a demotion at work! And they don't tell you up front that you're now on the penalty rate - you have to decode your bill and figure it out.
Then there are credit counselors: free services which help people in trouble to get their finances in order. One of the things they do is contact creditors, including credit card companies, and negotiate a set monthly payment schedule. In the past, credit card companies would usually lower the interest rate a bit for a customer who was working with a credit counselor.
Not any more. Now, they raise the rates, instead - by as much as 50%. It's sheer evil.
There's a lot more, which makes The Credit Card Trap well worth checking out.