Beverly, who always pays on time and recently started paying off her balance in full every month, just saw the rate on her Capital One card more than double, from 13.9% to 29.4%. That’ll teach you to not help sink the economy, Beverly!

She writes:

I recently received a letter in the mail from Capital One informing me that in April they will be raising my APR from 13.9% to 29.4%. I have been with this company for a very long time, have always paid my bill in a timely manner, and for the past few months I pay it off completely each and every month. This is also the only credit card I own, and unfortunately it looks like I’m going to have to close it because I am not going to deal with a company that more than doubles it’s APR on a customer that pays on time and doesn’t abuse the card.

Looks like it’s going to be cash only from now on.

Before you close it, Beverly, you might want to try to negotiate a lower rate. Here are some success stories to help motivate you, although you’ll have to accept that you’re facing worse odds in this economic climate. If Capital One refuses to cooperate, try shopping around for a better card at Billshrink or Bankrate. It’s probably good to keep a credit card account open both for your FICO score and in case you need sudden access to emergency funds.

Update: annab adds,

I got the same notice in the mail a couple days ago and got really mad until I realized they were only changing the default rate. I clearly wasn’t up on my credit card vocabulary, because when I called Capital One to complain, the guy had to explain to me in broken English that it only applies if I’m late on a payment, etc. Not saying Beverly doesn’t know what she’s talking about, but hopefully for her it’s the same situation as mine.

“24% APR Crushes Reader To Death”

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