There's a story in our news tonight about some of the outrageous ways credit card companies get our money. For example, let's say you have several accounts .. and, while you're pretty good about paying on time, you miss a due date on one. Only one. As you might expect, that company will likely pounce on the opportunity to use your delinquency as an indication of your uncreditworthiness (I think I just made up that word) and increase your interest rate, but (and here's the part that's really maddening) your other cards may do the same thing; they see you've missed a payment with someone else..and whammo..they up your interest rate, too. Why? Because they can.
Federal laws are not consumer friendly... essentially, they allow credit card companies to charge you whatever they like, whenever they feel like it. So, what can you do? Well, first of all, you can stand up to them and for yourself: threaten to pay off the balance and close the account. Whatever interest they get from you is better than none at all, so, many will back off and re-establish your previously lower rate. If they won't (and your credit is good), do it: find another company, transfer your balance and close the offending account.
Credit card companies are very competitive, they all want your business, so you should shop around for an account as you would for anything else.
And how can we change these usurious laws? Election reform. Really. I believe the nation's congressmen and women; the people who control these laws, would pay a lot more attention to consumer rights if they weren't concerned about the campaign contributions from some of the big banks. Think about it .. these banks are the credit card companies who are largely unregulated when it comes to charging interest and fees. Why is that, do you wonder??? Think about it, and if you come up with conflict of interest in Washington .. you may be onto something !! And, you may want to call your congressman to ask about it!