How Bad Is It???

[BigFish]

How do credit cards and utility bills/car payments have anything to do with one another??

[FishermanTim]

Originally Posted by BigFish

How do credit cards and utility bills/car payments have anything to do with one another??

I any world EXCEPT the credit world, they don't, but the credit card industry created this rule that allows them to use ANY OTHER bill that is paid late as reason to jack up interest rates.
Their theory is that if you're late on a car payment, or gas bill, or phone bill then you'll be late on a credit card bill.

I believe it's something like "mutually assumed risk", so that there is the "likelihood" that you "might" be late on a credit card bill "at some point" and that (to them) means the same as "you are NOW late"!

It's assinine, but when they were de-regulated it basically gave them "carte blanche" to do whatever they wanted to us.

[BigFish]

With all due respect I do not think that is the case. Can anyone else back that up??

[FishermanTim]

Simply call your credit card company and ask them why your interest rate is what it is.
(As for the rates, this has been going on for a few years now, but they didn't announce it as a "breaking story", they sent out yet another insert with the monthly bill explaining (in legalise) the new process.)

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by BigFish

With all due respect I do not think that is the case. Can anyone else back that up??

It depends on your user agreement. When they change it, they send you a notice of change, and most folks just throw it in the garbage without reading it.

It's also not every company that does it.

All of our credit cards are in my name, and all of the utilities are in the wife's name. The only other thing in my name is the mortgage, and that gets paid on time.

[FishermanTim]

If you pay your credit card bill on time and haven't been late (I don't know how many months/years back they give you as a "grace period") and your credit card interest rate is 14% or higher, then they are either doing it or are a real lousy company.

Of course there's the option of transferring your balance to another card with a low transfer balance rate. If they check any other bill that you pay, and you are late, than your rate will typically jump to around 24%.

I've been OVERpaying my card bills (balances are $20-30 per month)
so that when I get my bill, I see "No payment required" AND they have to pay interest for any positive balance that they carry to next month.
(Keep in mind that I only overpay by paying $100.00, so I'm not giving them a lot to hold onto.)

[Swimmer]

Ijust left my barber in Hanson. He said his last four customers all got laid off today. One was a carpenter, and the others were in the trades but he didn't say where.

[spence]

Our business has still been decent, but the next few quarters will prove very interesting as more companies tighten the belt. As bad as the NE economy might be, it is worse in other areas.

Personally it hasn't hit us much and I'm hoping it stays that way.

-spence