August 19, 2009
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Weathering CC Weather, Pt.4
Tomorrow's Forecast...One of the notable last-minute concessions to the Republicans in exchange for passage of the bill (bi-partisan approach) was to allow credit card lenders to raise credit card rates for almost any reason. So that won't go away. Advance notice of 45 days will be required. Previous credit card balances will not be included. That's why we're seeing all these increases now, before the provision goes into effect.
Penalty fees for charging over one's credit limit are going away soon. In fact, AmEx and B of A have already taken steps to resolve this problem. They're already implementing their fix by curtailing over-limit fees and replacing them with legal warnings that your credit card charge may bounce and your credit card interest rate may hike through the roof. But, you won't be issued an “over-limit” fee any more.
Reasonable time to pay will be given. The treachery and trickery of the few who like to pray on the unsuspecting is lessening already. Six months ago, there were floods of complaints from honest and well-meaning credit card holders who had been given insufficient time to get their payment delivered on time. They were slammed with late fees and every other kind of hurtful punishment.
The practice of targeting students under the age of 21 has subsided to the point it seems to be resolving itself. We still have to deal with the upcoming hardships dealing with the mean $4,100 credit card debt which has already been racked up by this segment who don't have the wisdom nor security of a co-signer.
Over-all, these issues amount to much more than just convenience or individual suffering. With $900 million worth of credit card debt just in this country, our nation's economic health is also in the balance. Consider the radical change between 2007 and 2008 when things got really bad from the aftermath of negligent Executive duties for so many years.
Our nation's mean credit card debt jumped from $$7,430, in 2007 to $17,103 in 2008. Over a 100% leap, as struggling consumers just tried to survive by living off credit cards when all the cash was gone.