The Best and Worst Credit Cards by CNNMoney

Suprise, surprise... " Consumers who used the MasterCard and Visa bank cards through JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Capital One, and HSBC, complained that they were assessed unfair late fees or experienced unexpected interest-rate increases. "

Twenty-eight percent of cardholders surveyed who pay the highest interest rates (interest of more than 25 percent) reported that their rate increase was due to a universal default clause. Cards that employ a universal default allow issuers to increase rates if a consumer makes late payments on other accounts, such as car loans, mortgages, or other credit cards

My question is where are the regulators or does anyone really care?

Credit card defaults keep rising

Chase bank can take this now... Surprise, surprise, credit card defaults are going up. Bump up those interest rates Chase! What is sad however is that the loan sharks (Chase and the crew) have setup the bankruptcy laws to protect them to the max, not to mention a market in which without a credit card you cannot even rent a movie...

Another great Chase Card trick ...

These guys are good...I meant REALLY GOOD.

A few months back I asked for a review of the interest charged on my account. As usual I got denied getting the typical demeaning "yada yada" as to why a 29.99% interest is because of "several factors" but if I make ontime payments for the next six months then they can take a look at it... One of the factors once mentioned is amount of payment. So next step after setting up automatic payments was to ensure that I pay at least double the minimum. Unfortunately there is not such option, just automatic payment using the minimum. So I decided that adding an extra payment will actually add up to my automatic payment...Not the CHASE way I am afraid. They actually deduct or do not post an automatic payment if you do another extra payment!!!! Call me picky or that I pay too much attention to detail but it is the same details they bring up denying to bring the interest to a fair level.

And the balance transfers checks from CHASE keep coming... These guys are like the Banking Sopranos.

Next common sense question to answer: Why don't you tranfer your balance (or pay it off for that matter). Coming up next...

Take a bite out of crime!

Want to hit credit card companies where it hurts? Waste some of their advertising money! Next time you see their ads on google, Overture, MSN go ahead and click on each one of them. It does not cost you anything but it costs them money. Yeap Google picks up the money but it certainly feels good when these credit card sharks have to pay a dollar or so a click for each completely irrelevant visitor. This is probably the most effective way to boycott them.

For those that do not understand Google adwords (or Overture/MSN for that matter) the links on the right and the top two "highlighted" links are sponsored. Every time you click on them, the sponsor is charged an amount depending on the position and bid price. The cost ranges from 25 cents up to several dollars depending on the bid value for a particular keyword. The way that multiple clicks from the same user are differentiates is usually via IP address (the address of your computer on the Internet) or a cookie (a file identifying you to Google). Therefore clicking on the same ad 10 times on the same Google visit does not count as ten clicks but rather one. The next day you visit however you get a new start... Also using another computer gives you a fresh start.

Funnily that is the little dirty secret about keyword advertising. How can one protect these paid clicks from coming via competitors or people wanting to exhaust the advertisers budget? Commonly refered as "click fraud" this is a major problem that search engines selling clicks do not seem to be able to combat. Meantime I find this a brilliant way to boycott companies which advertise on the Internet.

Pass the word around and happy clicking!

PS. In case somebody thinks this as a promotion of click fraud please think again. I just mentioned what is common sense.

Consumer Debt Statistics

Interesting data from the Federal Reserve...

A very interesting point the average credit card rate which is show to be on the average 14.47. If I am guessing correct if Chase has rates at 29.99% then somebody must have 0%!!!! Can anyone explaine this paradox because I cannot?

Think twice before using that 0% transfer check

After being screwed from Chase for over a year at a rate of 29.99% (remember universal default), today I receive a bunch of checks from them to use my free balance for a balance transfer at 3.9% until it is paid off...Tempting? Well reading through the fine print (learned an expensive lesson by not reading before), I noticed a very vague disclaimer that allows them to raise the 3.9% to any rate in case of default. Note that default does not mean not paying the card on time, or not paying according to terms. Chase defines default as anything in your credit report that can alert them to potential credit problems including high balances, or a late payment at an unrelated account. These guys are good so watch out!

What a clever way to transfer your lower rate balance to them for 3.9% for a few months until they come back and ask you why you used it and why you borrow too much? I will never forget a call I received from Chase asking me why I have used my credit card up to 80% of my available balance. Why would they give you that credit if they are afraid that you are going to use it? Go figure...