Huckleberries Online

Credit Card Firms Bump Interest Rates

March 2, 2009 8:12 a.m. • 21 comments

Item: Good credit no longer means good interest/Shawn Vestal, SR

More Info: Al Anderson had his credit card for a decade or more. He paid his bills on time. He rarely carried a balance. He thought he was a good customer. Then, a couple weeks ago, he got a notice from Capital One that his interest rate was rising from 9.9 percent to 17.9 percent. “To me, that’s a slap in the face,” said Anderson, a 69-year-old retiree who promptly canceled his card. “I would understand if my credit history was bad or I hadn’t made payments or gone over my balance, but I never have.”

Question: Has the interest rates on your credit cards gone up?

21 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

Arch_Druid on March 02 at 7:11 a.m.
Of course they have. That part doesn’t bother me. As explained on CNN, the CC companies set the rules. It’s when they start screwing around with those who hold their cards that does get me hot and bothered. I don’t have the video means of doing IReports on CNN but I can still inform them that some CC companies are capable of downright fraud. Under the circumstances, if they engage in fraud prior to raising the interest rates, engage in fraud prior to getting TARP money, then they can also be investigated and shut down for good.
vitalyb on March 02 at 8:49 a.m.
I also got that same letter in the mail. My rate went from being 8.99% fixed to 22.9% although my credit rating is excellent and I pay the entire balance each month. I’m very disappointed with the business practices of Capital One and as a loyal customer, I feel cheated.
Joker on March 02 at 8:55 a.m.
What’s in your wallet; A ticking time bomb.
idawa on March 02 at 8:59 a.m.
I have heard some rumblings that the next shoe to drop in this economy will be the consumer credit card industry…I guess we’ll see. Anyway, It is a joke - it is one of the few instance where the law tolerates a contract where one party can unilateral change the terms at any time without notice.
JeanC on March 02 at 9:27 a.m.
We used to have Cap One until the day hubby discovered they’d raised our interest rate from 12% to 24%. He called to find out what was going on and the reply was “Oh, there was a mistake, it is supposed to be 24%!”. We switched to someone else with a much lower rate and canceled the card and have been telling everyone who asks ever since to not bother with Cap One.
Charlie on March 02 at 10:15 a.m.
Sure they have. If we use one of our two credit cards, it is paid in full when the bill comes in so we don’t worry about interest. The lending companies are in bed with congress. We suffer.
JeanC on March 02 at 11:45 a.m.
Just realized I goofed. The mistake was it was supposed to be 28% :P
marmitetoasty on March 02 at 11:48 a.m.
I dont do credit cards, if I aint got the dosh to pay for something then I dont get it……. end of :)

x
toadman on March 02 at 12:00 p.m.
In the last two months, my credit score has gone UP by 200 points. Amazing, if you ask me. We’re down to ONE credit card, and actively finishing our final snowball (rolling all the payments of other outstanding debts into the last one making it a giant payment every month) to pay that one off. Then we’ll be debt free with the exception of the house, and only use the CC in emergencies.
Cis on March 02 at 4:25 p.m.
I have the same trouble with Capital One.. from 9% to 14% and now just Friday I got a note saying they were going to 17% and also it will be 14% over and above prime rate, so it could change from day to day. That they made these changes January 30th. Which was nice being I got the note Feb. 27. And if I chose not to do this, then I can cancel.
Being my cards are frozen in my freezer somewhere with zero balance, I will find them and stop them. The only side effect of this is.. our car insurance. We found out about 3 years ago, that if you get a new credit card, your insurance rates can go up. As they see someone who has credit card that are less than 12 years old, or getting new cards, as a bad risk for car driving. What the heck one has to do with the other, is beyond me. When I checked other insurance companys for rates, one of the remarks was, that the prices were pending, a credit check. Not all states have this, but Idaho is one of them that does. Oh, I had also paid off three other credit cards, small balances, at Sears and etc. that jumped their rates to 25%, and that also was a mark against us by the insurance company. But our credit rating was over 800 for both of us. So if one doesn’t get you… then the other will.
Digger on March 02 at 8:02 p.m.
Spazz’s Capital One cards went from 9.9% to 22.9%. We’re closing them and paying them down at the current terms. I prefer the Dave Ramesy method of cash only.

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.