Consumer Credit Fairness Act
Lenders that seek to charge excessive interest rates have become the target of Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. The new legislation, which was introduced in January, is called the Consumer Credit Fairness Act.
Last week Whitehouse told a Senate hearing on credit card practices that the “standard credit card agreement gives the lender the [...]
Protect Yourself from Higher Interest Rates
Here is something your credit card company will never tell you: they are using any excuse that they can find to raise your interest rate. Did you realize that if you are late paying any of your bills that are unrelated to your credit card, your credit card issuer can then use that as an [...]
We Support The Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights
There is presently legislation pending that will protect credit card account holders from arbitrarily having their interest rates raised. It is called the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights and is co-sponsored by U.S. Representative Anna Eschoo (D – California).
Representative Eschoo recently wrote an editorial to her hometown (Silicon Valley) newspaper, the Mercury News where she [...]
5 Things You Should Not Do When Your Credit Cards Are Maxed Out
Times are tough for all of us right now. Both the housing market and the stock market seem to be in a free-fall with no end in sight. Many people have lost their jobs or have seen their income reduced significantly.
Having credit cards is a nice safety net in tough economic times. But when those [...]
Inactivity Can Cost You Your Card
Here is a new trend amongst credit card companies, cardholders that do not use their credit cards over the past 12 months are in danger of either having their credit limit reduced or losing their credit card altogether. Either scenario may result in the lowering of your credit score.
And yes, you guessed it, it is [...]
Chase Raises Fees On Unsuspecting Customers
Here is a tough one to swallow. Chase just announced that they would be raising fees on credit card account holders that locked in fixed low APR terms. It seems as if cardholders that carry a balance and had the foresight to jump on low interest or 0% interest offers with the promise that if [...]
Credit Card Companies Marketing On Campus
Credit card companies have aggressively marketed to students for many years now. But apparently that in your face marketing strategy has reached critical mass at some college campuses. Michigan State University has a deal worked out with Bank of America whereby Bank of America is given a list of MSU students, alumni and season ticket [...]
Know Your Rights As A Credit Card Holder
While Congress works on the newly proposed “credit card bill of rights“, I felt it was important that I share with you exactly what your rights as a credit card customer entail. After all, it will probably be months before Congress draws up this new bill.
Many cardholders have expressed everything from minor frustration to deep [...]
Tips For Negotiating Credit Card Terms
I thought it might be helpful to some of our readers if we laid out some tactful tips for successfully negotiating better credit card terms with their respective credit card companies. And yes, in case you didn’t know, you can negotiate a better deal with your credit card providers.
No matter what the issue at hand [...]
Why You Should Negotiate With Your Credit Card Company
In these rough economic times it is understandable why so many consumers believe that they do not have much leverage when it comes to negotiating a better deal with their credit card issuer. While no doubt times are tough all over, you can still effectively get a better deal on your credit cards in the [...]