Consumers can't take it easy with the credit card reform. Now individuals have to be wary more than they ever have before. The credit card reform act of 2009 is cutting into some of the a lot more underhanded credit card scams from financial institutions. So now those institutions are trying much harder to sign individuals up for credit card debt than they ever have. And they’re searching for a lot more interesting and exciting ways to make money with new fees, shorter grace periods and higher late fees. Credit card users have to read the fine print on any and all applications and read statements carefully when they receive them.
Article Source: With credit reform, credit card offers are getting a lot more deceptive By Personal Money Store
Credit card offers exploding
Credit card companies could be extremely hard to control. Even with a terrible economy, the credit card reform act of 2009 has credit card company's trying desperately to sell. According to Synovate Mail Monitor, which tracks direct-mail offers, credit card spiels to U.S. households increased 29 percent during the first quarter of 2010. Some credit card companies a lot more than doubled their efforts. Some of the largest ones are just predatory within the fees they come up with to charge customers more.
Scams for credit cards
There are many creative credit card scams. Numerous say risk is why you will find late fees. But there has come a new report from the Center for Responsible Lending shows that late fees have nothing to do with the credit card company’s potential loss. As outlined by the report, late fees aren’t pegged to the risk a borrower might default on their credit card debt. Instead, nine of the top 10 characteristics of credit card companies who charge high late fees are other unfair or deceptive practices. One tactic is imposing a much higher rate of interest if a customer pays just a day late. The other is to have the deadline be early within the morning the day it is due.
Credit card late fees and even more than that
Just the beginning are credit card late fees. USA Today reports that other tricks to look at out for consist of balance transfer fees, shorter introductory offer periods, and also the fine print about annual fees on rewards cards.
Some of the balance-transfer fees: Credit card companies offer percent introductory rates to transfer balances to a new card. The amount transferred is being charged around 5% with no cap. It could cost $ 1,000 to transfer $ 20,000.
Shorter introductory offers: Some credit card companies offer percent interest for up to 18 months, but a six months is becoming much more common. The credit card reform bill prohibits credit card companies from offering introductory rates for less than six months. Card holders must be realistic about whether they can settle the balance before the offer expires. Any late payments will prompt the business to cancel the introductory rate.
Last you will find annual fees: More rewards cards are coming with annual fees, especially airline credit cards. Calculations are a lot more complicated with these companies. A free airline ticket may seem worth the annual fee, but accumulating enough miles to buy a ticket could take years. Nobody who travels on average terms will want the mileage card. Then there are the rewards cards that withhold rewards because of a late payment and need a reinstatement fee to reclaim the rewards.
Credit cards make anything cost more
Because of the credit card reform act of 2009, credit card offers are exploding. But a poor economy and credit card debt are a bad mix. As outlined by Smartmoney.com, when the economy is struggling, the value of goods and services falls relative to the value of money. A rock and a hard place are where individuals fall with debt. As the price of everything from automobiles to airfare falls, so does their value when they’re purchased with credit cards. When a product is charged on a credit card, the ultimate price paid for it rises as the product loses all of its value, and that does not include interest.
Read a lot more on this topic here
Center for Responsible Lending
responsiblelending.org/credit-cards/research-analysis/a-just-fee-or-just-a-fee.html
USA Today
usatoday.com/money/perfi/columnist/block/2010-06-01-yourmoney01_ST_N.htm
Smartmoney.com
smartmoney.com/Personal-Finance/Debt/carry-credit-card-debt-watch-the-dollar/
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