August 12, 2009
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The other side of the Credit Card Coin, Pt. 2
Here's whatcha get...With the feds breathing down their necks, it should come as no surprise that the large credit card lenders have put a lot of time and effort into planning ways to "do what they must". That is, to find ways to affect their cause and keep things from changing very much. One of those ways is to swing credit card holders over a barrel so they will choose to opt paying the penalties that the lenders can no longer force on them. Going back to the old way of simply denying transactions that exceed the credit limit is one barrel to subject credit card holders to swing over. If they don't like swinging over a barrel they can simply opt to pay the over-charge penalty. Perfectly legal.
To send the message home, large credit card lenders are also flexing their muscles by reminding us that they can simply close our credit card accounts at any time, with no warning and for almost any reason. This is becoming more common then we may want to think. Ever wonder when it will be your turn? Here are a few examples:
A North Carolina woman was setting up a big birthday to-do and at the last minute, found that her Amex credit card was rejecting all transactions. When she inquired at length, she was informed by Amex customer service that her account had been closed and that, in a few days, she would receive the announcement letter of the closing which would also give the reason why. When the letter finally arrived, she was shocked to read that the reason for the closing was due to a late car payment which had occurred four years ago. Nothing to do with credit cards and no other blemishes on her record. Happy Birthday to you, too.