Senate holding hearing on C-Span2 NOW regarding Credit Card Industry Practices

[flpoljunkie]

A Bruce Hammond from Bank of America is one of those testifying on behalf of the credit card companies.

[meegbear]

1. Thank you Bruce and your company ...

raising my credit card rates to 31% really helped me and my financial future.

Toss his ass in jail.

[Purveyor]

5. And of course they don't raise your rate if you only have a small balance

They wait until you have a sizeable one, then triple the interest.

I had this experience with B of A. Interest rate went from 9.9 to 29.9 when I put on a $5500 charge.

They refused to lower the rate but American Express was glad to take over the balance at 4.9% until paid off.

[meegbear]

7. Take Charge America ...

they consolidated my 3 cards and we'll have them paid off in 2 years. Those fuckers sent me a letter acknowledging I was in the program and chided me for "not handling my finances better" :grr:.

Fuck 'em all.

[Double T]

11. The loan sharks will always blame you; bait you with 0% APR..........

then later hit you with the exorbitant default interest rate when you struggle and are late or miss a payment. Bait and switch.

[woodsprite]

2. I just posted on another thread that BOA is going to charge

a 'processing' fee if you accidentally end up with a credit on your account. If you overpay by 50 cents, they're gonna charge you the fee. You can't get a check cut for that piddly amount, so I guess they'll keep charging you until you go buy something else on their card.

[meegbear]

9. In-fucking-credible ...

they bitchslap you for a negative balance by taking some or all of it from you. :grr:

[snappyturtle]

3. K&R This is so-o important.........banking laws are just another

gift from Bush to his banking friends. This country is in huge trouble with the National debt and personal debt is outstanding. If these government economic gurus want to know what's going on in the country all they need do is turn on their TVs. Has anyone else noticed that for a couple years now we are inundated with ads for equity loans, refinance loans, credit card offers and of late, pay day loans complete with admonitions? This last group is probably no better than "legal" loan sharking......ah for the good ol' days for ads for Mott's applesauce, Good and Plenty and Wonder Bread!

[flpoljunkie]

13. Below is a link from PBS Frontline on The Secret History of the Credit Card. Worth bookmarking.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/eight/

[snappyturtle]

17. THANK YOU!

[Double T]

4. Credit card divisions of Banks are NOTHING but loan sharks............

preying on consumers. The 'Do Next to Nothing' Congress better start doing something for the electorate that put them there; talking and going through the motions isn't action. The credit card division of Banks need to be heavily regulated with interest caps and limitations on charges and fees. Christopher Dodd, I'm talking to YOU!!!! BOA is a snake, a constrictor that squeezes the life and every last penny out of you.

[napi21]

6. Are you sure it's cspan2? I just tuned in and they're airing the Senate.

I checked the cspan schedule this AM and itt didn't say anything about broadcasting any hearings today.

[napi21]

8. Nevermind. I see what they're doing. They do the hearing when the Senate

is silent for whatever their many reasons may be.

Thanks, I'll keep cspan2 on.

[marlakay]

10. I want them to change about the 0% rates

I got one for a year and put large thing we bought on it to pay off in that time. Told my husband not to use that card (knowing how they are) but he forgot. Now we pay interest on thing he bought...because these companies make a rule you have to pay off the 0% balance first before any payment goes to new amount even if its only $20.

So what a pisser...robbers I say.

[Javaman]

12. One question: is he under oath? nt

[flpoljunkie]

14. Good question! I did not see the beginning--ony the end, before they cut away to Senate session.

[Javaman]

15. Unless he's under oath, it's nothing more than puff and bluster.

more of the "look we are doing our jobs" by the senators.

I certainly hope those fools learned their lessons when asshole sen roberts from Alaska wouldn't allow the oil execs to be questioned under oath. Somehow, I don't think they did.

[flpoljunkie]

16. AP: Senate Panel to Examine Credit Card Fees

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/07/AR2007030700236.html

Senate Panel to Examine Credit Card Fees
By MARCY GORDON
The Associated Press
Wednesday, March 7, 2007; 11:48 AM

WASHINGTON -- A Senate panel today is examining complex billing and interest-rate practices for credit cards that critics say confuse consumers and can push them deeper into debt.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs subcommittee, said an investigation by his panel found "abusive" and confusing practices by credit card companies that can increase financial pain for many families. "The penalties are repeated and they keep you in debt," Levin told reporters in advance of a hearing Wednesday at which major credit card issuers were expected to testify.

While the credit card practices in question are legal, Levin is threatening possible legislation to outlaw them as a spur to the banking industry for voluntary changes. Scrutiny from Congress in recent months of the credit card industry already has caused several major banks to begin to eliminate or temper some of those practices, said Levin, who was joined at a briefing by Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, the panel's senior Republican.

Stricter rules for banks laid down by regulators such as the Federal Reserve also may be needed, the two senators said.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd and other Democratic senators challenged credit card executives at a hearing in January over rising late fees and other penalties and marketing practices they portrayed as predatory. Dodd, D-Conn., said he was putting the industry on notice that if it doesn't improve practices on its own, legislation may be warranted.

Since Democrats assumed control of Congress in January, they have put a number of consumer issues on the legislative agenda. With Americans weighed down by some $850 billion in consumer debt, the practices of the robustly profitable credit card industry is a compelling subject for scrutiny.

Levin and Coleman denounced practices they said brought in tens of millions of dollars to banks issuing credit cards, such as charging interest on balances that are paid on time but not in full, and so-called double-cycle billing, which eliminates the interest-free period of a consumer who moves from paying his full balance every month to carrying a balance.

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