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If Youre Having Problems Making Credit Card Payments Then Fasten Your Seat Belts!
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Credit card companies are quickly raising fees and interest rates and also lowering their customers limits before new laws take effect in about seven months from now and their actions are angering both members of congress and consumer advocates.

Looked at from a lenders point of view however its easy to see why they are in such a rush to both protect and to increase their profits.

The new law when its enacted will prevent card companies from raising rates on existing balances unless the borrower is at least 60 days in arrears and will require the original rate to be restored if payments are received on time for six straight months.

Under the present law credit card companies are not obliged to get permission from customers whos spending will take them over their limit but since customers who exceed their limits are charged a fee the new law states that their permission must be given.

Next month Chase intend to raise their minimum payments for selected customers to 5% from 2% and their minimum fee for transferring a balance will rise to 5% from a previous 34%.

Stephanie Jacobson who is a spokeswoman for Chase Card Services said that Fewer than 1% percent of our customers will see a monthly minimum payment increase. Our desire is to have these balances paid back in a reasonable period of time.

Bank of America raised their transaction fee for balance transfers and cash advances from 3 to 4% last month.

Discover have raised the maximum fee that they charge for transferring balances from 3% or 4% to 5% of the amount transferred.

Citibank and Bank of America both started to raise their rates and to reduce their limits in January and they are continuing to do so.

Citibank has had the biggest increases in fees and interest since January and its vice president Samuel Wang had this to say These changes reflect the dramatically higher cost of doing business in our industry as we work to preserve the broad availability of credit.

Whats more it isnt only the credit card companies that are hurrying to user in changes.

Kevin C. Langin who is a spokesman for Atlanta based InfiBank says that the bank will raise the minimum annual percentage rate it charges nearly all of its customers in September in order to more effectively manage the profitability of our credit card account portfolio in a very challenging economic environment.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer (DN.Y.)who has many times complained about the inadequacies of the bill again asked the Federal Reserve to make use of its emergency powers and to halt the rises in interest rates.

This is what many of us feared about a law that didnt take effect right away. It was never going to take this long for the credit card companies to get ready for the new reforms. Instead issuers are using the delay in the effective date to wring more dollars out of their customers. It is against the spirit of the law and it is just plain wrong and hes by no means alone in his opposition to the way that the bill is presently framed.

Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (DN.Y.) said Capricious actions like these are why Congress overwhelmingly passed and President Obama signed my credit card reform bill. To level the playing field on behalf of consumers. The recent rate and fee hikes were unfair and deceptive and must be stopped.

Scott Talbott who is senior vice president of government affairs for the industry group Financial Services Roundtable said that there are two reasons for the rate increases.

First consumer credit scores which banks use to determine if they should lend and at what price have decreased. Second the cost of providing credit has increased. Once the new law is in effect we anticipate a further reduction in the availability of credit and additional increases in the cost of credit.

Banks have been hit with a record number of chargeoffs which are debts that they consider as uncollectable and in June credit card losses reached 10.44% percent which is easily a record loss.

Bank executives have long been warning that the new law would force them to increase their rates and fees because it would keep them from properly managing borrowers risk and they argue that if they become prevented from raising rates for their riskiest cardholders that they would have to raise everybodys rates. And theres a logic to that.

John Ulzheimer who is president of consumer education for Credit.com which tracks the industry says Its what I call the Credit Card Trifecta. Lower limits higher rates higher minimum payments.This is a common practice and will continue to be common because issuers can do these things for really no reason until February.

* A Trifecta is used to describe a bet in which your three horses must finish in first second and third places and in the correct order and the use of the phrase suggests that John might enjoy a little bet once in a while.

How Much Will These Changes Affect You

Just to put things into a little better perspective imagine for a moment that you have a Chase credit card and your minimum monthly payment is presently $178 but you open your mail and discover that its going to be increased to $440!

Well if you have credit cards you wont have to use your imagination for very much longer because that kind of notification or something similar is most likely coming your way real soon.

If the above does happen to you and you know that you wont be able to make the payments then dont delay but contact a reputable credit counseling service right away.

The author of this article was a film producer and award winning film sound editor for many years. He has an interest and natural flare for economics so if you need a loan but are worried about your credit score then go check out > Need Credit Now because if offers a long list of lenders that provide Auto Loans Personal Loans and Mortgage Loans plus Guaranteed Credit Cards to those with bad credit.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_981364_19.html