Merchants are pushing for more credit card fee reform, for the fees they have to pay. Every time you swipe at checkout, whether it’s a credit or debit card, the merchant has to pay two fees. One is a flat per transaction fee, the other is a percentage of the total sale, called the interchange fee. Those rewards cards you’re so fond of? They have the higest interchange fees. Those rewards and cashbacks don’t come from a magical reward tree, they’re paid for by the interchange fees. In other words, the Quickie Mart is paying for your “free” airline miles. [More]
credit cards
6 Credit Card Fee Traps To Avoid
By 12.8.09
Despite the passage of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act (“Credit CARD Act”), there are still fee traps out there waiting to snare you. [More]
Chase Executive Customer Service Drops APR From 26% To 9%
By 12.8.09
Crippled by a high interest rate that ate up his monthly payments with finance charges, reader Eric says he used the patented executive customer service technique on Chase to get his APR reduced from 26% to 9% and 3 months of fees refunded. Here’s his story: [More]
Reach HSBC Executive Customer Service
By 12.7.09
HSBC Card & Retail Services
James R. Lane
Vice President, Executive Resolutions
831-772-6248
james.r.lane@us.hsbc.com
Should Retailers Verify Customer Income Before Extending Credit?
By 12.7.09
One provision of the CARD Act requires credit issuers to verify income and debt load before issuing new credit, and the Federal Reserve is now looking at how to enforce that. That’s scaring retailers, who have come to enjoy the benefits of pushing “instant credit” offers at the register. [More]
Chase Gave Me A Credit Card I Didn't Want
By 11.30.09
Steven writes about how he feels he was tricked into opening a credit card he didn’t want, then still received the card even after he was vehement about canceling his unauthorized application. [More]
'I Stopped Denying People': Ex-Bank Of America CSR Tells All
By 11.27.09
Here’s a testimonial from a former Bank of America customer assistance employee. She was fired on Monday for offering repayment plans to too many customers, even those who “deserved” the 29.99% APR for making late payments. After hearing her story, you might conclude that this job was never a good fit for her skills. The next time you run up against a dead-sounding CSR, though, remember that people like Jackie don’t make for profitable collections department employees, which is why they don’t stick around for long. [More]
Salvation Army To Accept Credit Cards In Kettles
By 11.27.09
Do you brush off Salvation Army bell-ringers, saying that you don’t have any cash? In certain cities, you’ll need to find a different excuse. This holiday season, the ubiquitous charity introduces kettles that accept credit cards. [More]
Citibank To Customer: Charge $750 And We Won't Gouge You So Badly
By 11.18.09
Mike says Citibank boosted his interest rate to 20 percent, then said they’d knock off half of it as long as he paid on time and charged at least $750 a month.
88 Big Sites Earning Millions From Webloyalty Scam
By 11.18.09
88 websites, a good number pretty big name sites, that earned millions, some in excess of $10 million, as partners in the infamous Webloyalty consumer ripoff. Pizza Hut? Say it ain’t so.
Chase Raises Interest Rate On Closed Account
By 11.13.09
David closed his Chase credit card account instead of accepting a rate increase earlier this year. That should have been the end of it, but it turned out Chase later went ahead and increased the interest rate anyway.
Is Bank Of America Of Trying To Skirt The CARD Act With New Annual Fees?
By 11.10.09
In a series of recent posts, WalletBlog has accused Bank of America of breaking the spirit of its “no new fees” promise and of potentially breaking the law next year, after it announced it will introduce annual fees on some existing credit card accounts in 2010.
Layaway Making A Comeback
By 11.9.09
Sears and Toys R Us are among retailers who have brought back layaway programs to help boost sales, reports Eve Mitchell at the San Jose Mercury News. Not all stores think it’s worth the effort, so you won’t find it at JCPenney, Target, or Walmart. However, if you want to use layaway at retailers that don’t offer it, there are now websites that can help.
Capital One Activates Payment Protection Plan Thanks To EECB
By 11.7.09
Earlier this week, I posted about a college student who couldn’t get Capital One’s Emergency Payment Protection Plan activated on his account because of missed deadlines. Andon wrote back today to say that after he sent an EECB to the credit card company’s executives, they apologized and activated the service.
Update: Capital One: Waive Your Rights, Get $10 Off Your Next Overlimit Fee!
By 11.4.09
Here’s the straight scoop on what’s up with the story in that “Capital One: Waive Your Rights, Get $10 Off Your Next Overlimit Fee!” post.
Capital One Tricks Customer Into Not Activating Emergency Payment Protection Plan
By 11.3.09
Cory wrote in earlier to complain about Capital One‘s nasty habit of having their collection department call you to upsell you on other products. At almost the same time, Andon wrote to us to let us know that the company’s protection plan—the sort of thing they’re trying to sell to people like Cory—is useless unless you can manipulate time (Andon can’t).
Capital One Calls To Dun For Payment Before It's Even Due
By 11.3.09
Cory says Capital One‘s Collection Department called his mother-in-law the other day in an attempt to reach him, which was weird because his account is in good standing. Their reason? They just wanted to remind him that his credit card payment was due soon. Oh, and to try to upsell him.
