Comments on: Credit Card Late Payments Spiked in September

By: deanbob

deanbob — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 13:04:23 +0000

CND FOX | OCTOBER 19, 2011, 8:08 AM 8:08 AM…..”THEY (big banks) were the main problem in the ‘housing crisis’ and are the maibn problem with this crisis. “…..Because they did what the government told them to do? Washington’s(the current and last 2 administrations) same success with AMTRAK, the Post Office, waste/fraud/abuse in Medicare and SS is comparable to their success in maximizing home ownership!

By: allen

allen — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 23:02:05 +0000

Don’t carry a balance. I haven’t carried a balance for over a month in 25 years.

By: CND FOX

CND FOX — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:08:15 +0000

“Damie”….I work for a bank….a small to medium sized one. I see things all the time from customers who come to me and have ‘dealt’ with the ‘big banks’. THEY (big banks) were the main problem in the ‘housing crisis’ and are the maibn problem with this crisis. And yet miiddr class Americans won’t get behind the President when he makes the push to regulate them. Untill middle class Americans get smarternd once again have more ‘job growth’ opportunity. Until housing values rise again and people can consolidate some of this debt. Until the GOP quits ‘fighting’ the Consumer Protection Agency that Elizaberth Warren envisioned….none of this will change. Many people are ‘desperate’…not ‘crazy’.

By: Damie

Damie — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 04:39:17 +0000

The average credit card debt per household is $15,799.00 ???!@#$%% Unbelievable. What are people thinking? Are they total imbeciles or stark raving mad?

By: Mike B

Mike B — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:12:22 +0000

I had excellent credit for many years and way too many credit cards. As time went on, one or two late payments in 10 years snowballed with each successive company jacking up my rates because the other Company did. Started with my Sears card, went from 8% to 20+% overnight. Soon, I would get notices that my other Credit Crds were being raised due to a report that Sears raised my rates. After a few months, I was paying rates better suited for Mob loans. I have sinced paid off all my cards and cut them up. I may have a card in a drawer somewhere but I only deal with Cash now. And what a relief not to owe any of these bloodsucking thieves.

By: Denese

Denese — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 22:55:18 +0000

Uh-oh. Can you say 29.99% interest rate? Esp if you use Discover.

By: Constance Blake

Constance Blake — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 20:06:37 +0000

For the past two months one of my credit card statements have shown both late fees and interest fees based on non-payment when in reality the payments were sent from my bank well in advance of the due date. These statements arrived in the mail showing ridiculous balances instead of only the current month’s purchases. So after the usual telephone call from me, I got them to say that the true balance was just the amount of each month’s purchases. I will give them one more chance and if they don’t get their act together, I will no longer use the card. If this is happening with all their customers and with other banks, how reliable are reports of late payments being on the increase?

By: Publius

Publius — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:24:04 +0000

As the interest rates indicate, the purpose of credit cards is to provide short-term unsecured convenience credit (like the now-defunct charge accounts people usually paid off at the end of the month), not sustain long-term debt. If a borrower expects to take months or years to pay off a loan, they should take out an lower rate installment loan. The rub is that the lower interest rate means that the borrower must qualify for one to ensure a lower write-off rate on those types of loans. If they don’t, then they have to borrow from whomever they can and pay whatever interest the lender feels the level of risk justifies.

By: The_Mick

The_Mick — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:34:41 +0000

“The average credit card debt per household is $15,799 and the average interest rate on cards is 13 percent.” Since the average for cards with $0 balances have lower interest rates, on average, than cards that carry a balance, I bet the average interest charged is closer to 20% – which in a just world would be considered usurious. I normally have a $0 balance but built up a $10K balance to renovate our 2nd home before selling it. Suddenly, the card issuers “discovered” I had retired and jacked the rates up to around 30% from 3.99%. A 60 second phone call to Discover got the rate dropped right back down but the others wouldn’t budge. Fortunately, the house sold quickly, but I learned to NEVER carry a balance again with those crooked b@st!5ds.

By: Larry

Larry — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:13:54 +0000

Need to redue your math. It’s closer to 13 years to pay off the debt NOT 6.5 years.