Credit Card Companies Changing Terms Ahead Of Laws Effects
A report posted today in MSNBC.com’s “Red Tape Chronicles”, is a study on how credit card issuers will try to make money by squeezing the paying customers that they still have.
After using low interest rates to lure customers to their credit card products over the years, the companies are now changing agreements on previously fixed-rate cards. Effectively changing the rules after you have made the charges on the card.
While they are well within the law to do so, it is unfortunate that after Congress passed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act that credit card issuers are changing terms on existing accounts with no history of slow or missed payments.
In some cases cited in the article, banks are doubling minimum payment requirements in an effort to force debtors to pay off low interest rate debt sooner.
For consumers struggling to make their current payments, these changes in terms may mean the difference between solvency and bankruptcy.
