Kathy Chu and Byron Acohido
USA Today
November 10, 2008
Tommy Newsom was shocked when his bank nearly doubled his credit card interest rate this year, to 27%, for no apparent reason. A customer rep told him the law allowed the bank to do so, and that was all the justification it needed.
“I never missed a payment,” says Newsom, 63, of Mesquite, Texas, who owes about $5,000 on the card. “The bank is just looking for a reason to maximize profits.”
In recent years, banks have sharply raised interest rates and penalty fees on credit cards. As the economy tanks and banks’ mortgage-related losses balloon, some banks are stepping up such increases to boost revenue. Bearing the brunt are consumers for whom a jump in rates and fees can make it tougher to pay their bills at a time when household budgets already are being stretched.
A key driver behind this trend: securitization. From 2003 to 2007, seven of the largest issuers of credit cards packaged an increasing amount of card debt into securities and sold them to investors, just as banks did with mortgages, a USA TODAY review of banking records found.
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Home » Economic Crash in Focus » Banks Boosting Credit Card Rates and Fees


November 10th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Why is this news? Hell’s Bell’s, knowing that this could happen at any time is what kept me from EVER having a credit card. You’d have to be an idiot or someone who has to keep up with the Jones’ to have one. STUPID!
WAGON! WAGON!
DEAD BODIES DRAGGIN’!
MCL
November 10th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
So what are you saying. Are you claiming to have untold amount of cash under your mattress and in the bank (under the $250,000 limit) and that you can pay cash for everything.
I doubt that.
Freedom of limited speech, Reply:
February 20th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
The 250k is for a year only, and will go back to 100k
November 10th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
this is a hidden tax. inflation and higher bank fees are hidden taxes.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Stop using cards. Until I was 26 I used to buy everything on credit, lease cars instead of buying and so on. Then I got married, that was 8 years ago.
These days we don’t buy anything unless we can pay cash or pay the card off at the end of the month every time. If i can’t afford it I can’t have it it’s that simple.
My truck is 11 years old and the other car is 9 years old. No payments and the insurance is cheaper too. I have not wasted my money on the big HD TV, Satelite dish/cable, 4 wheelers that depreciate, leasing a Hummer, 30,000 bass boat, Play Station 3, $300 phone, season football tickets, don’t need to pay to see a bunch of guys chasing a ball and slapping each other on the ass, not that there is anything wrong with being gay.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
haha you’d have to be an idiot to pay them. I would cut the card(s) up and never send another penny. No judge around my neck of the woods would issue a judgement against someone if their credit card company doubled their rate for no reason. That would teach the banksters, if all the people whose rates they increased just stopped paying them altogether!
November 10th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
http://change.gov
November 10th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
I agree, NO cash NO carry ‘)
November 10th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
so we are paying for the banks to stay afloat through the bailout package, and now the bank is coming to charge me more interest? I’d say F U and tell them to forget about my card, they’ll never see a payment from me.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
How about if everyone stopped paying their home loans and credit cards and bull shit insurance. We all do that and we tell them that we are keeping all the property and what the hell you going to do about it.
Is there a point to sending us to obamas web site #6?
November 10th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
http://obamacrimes.com/
November 10th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Thankfully, I have no credit card, but yeah, a mass movement should be started to begin a campaign of non-payment of usurous loans in the near future.
November 10th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Feel good news always here at infowars. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPS7ksrKk8Y
November 10th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
It’s criminal what these banks do. First they send credit cards to teenagers to enslave them, then they up the interest rates and penalties. The poor dumbed-down kids have no idea about the math of debt and compound interest. The Bible says “the borrower is servant (slave) to the lender. The object is to enslave all of us. It is usury and it is a sin. Bush also changed the bankruptcy laws just in time to enslave more people. It’s the banks that should have to pay for their crimes.
November 10th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
inside info coming to the outside from an FBI agent
the recent wallstreet bailout
one word was changed in the legislation regarding banks and stockmarket
“insured”was changed to “swap”
Before that change (put into legislation by the wall street lobbyists)
the banks had to have certian amount of reserves
example: If the loan being sold was for 100 dollars then maybe 20 dollars had to be held in reserve and could not be touched
But when they changed the word to “swap” no reserves were necessary and therefore there was no hard currency backing up the loans
Everything was on paper
November 10th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Of course this is a repeat of the adjustable rate mortgage fiasco and will result in massive defaults which will then require another bailout. . .
November 10th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Crap like this makes me think twice about putting more stuff on credit.
November 10th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
They can keep it up all they want, if they dont want to loose business they better stop it. The FED is a different story all together but these regular banks? keep pushing people and sooner or later everyone will withdraw all their money and leave the accounts dry then no more business
November 10th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
http://video.google.co.uk/vide.....&hl=en The secret History of The Credit Card
November 10th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm2SYlwd8nY
November 11th, 2008 at 1:00 am
withdraw all of your soon-to-be-worthless 401Ks and pay off your credit cards. Sure, taxes will deplete your savings, but so will the market. At least you pay off your debts!
November 11th, 2008 at 4:21 am
good history and solutions in this video. pass it on.
http://video.google.com/videop.....ey+masters
November 11th, 2008 at 9:51 am
Banks are such a scam
November 11th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Fu*k the banks! Fu*k credit! I don’t have any credit cards, and I only have 2k left in car payments. After that I will NEVER take out a loan or use credit again! No debt, no slavery.
November 11th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Want to speak up directly??
This was sent to me today:
IF enough people speak up they could (could they?) make a difference. Can’t hurt to try…….I hope.
Go to:
http://www.change.gov/
roll your mouse over “American Moment” then click on “Share your vision”
I think all readers of Alex Jones should at least try to submit once, why not?
November 11th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
yeahhh up the rates to the slaves make them pay for living and buying yes an fund communist china yes feed the fire amreica do what ur masters want or else they will take ur money ur oh so fine fake cash ahahahaah
November 11th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
One very effective solution to such outrageous interest rates is to simply refuse to pay these crooks! Just stop paying ‘em. And if you’re feeling “generous,” send the card issuer a notice 30 days prior to stopping payments, stating that you’ve decided to change the terms of your contract with them. Hey, that’s the way they operate. If everyone turned the tables on these card-issuing crooks when they pulled this kind of shit on their customers, then things would change almost overnight!
December 2nd, 2008 at 1:53 am
I decided a month ago to stop paying all my credit cards…they are just in limbo. My intuition told me this is not going to be resolved so I started mitigation. Now, I know we are headed for a full fledged crash…and the Amero…I’m thinking within 6 months.