What role did credit card companies jacking up their interest rates play in today's crisis?

Who is aware that some cards jacked up their rates on people if their credit score went down anytime after they issued the card?|||They charge higher interest rates to help defray costs when someone files bankruptcy- credit card debt is usually first to be washed away.|||defense. of thier CEOS wallet.|||That's been around for long before housing bubble went. Definitely doesn't help anything but way credit card rate changes wasn't big factor considering lot of other marketing techniques employ similar tactics. Draw in people with attractive offer and hit them later with big bills and hidden surprise. Its old, but always evolving.|||My credit card interest rates have fallen over the last few years and my credit limit has also went up.





If people are responsible, they would not be suffering such a fate.|||their rates went up because the assets of the majority of card holders disappeared, they therefore became more of a risk to the credit card company.|||Maybe some, but I have to say that I have never personally charged something by accident.|||Or made one payment late because someone forgot to pay or sent out the bill late...





Credit card companies should have caps on the interest rates they can charge someone...





It's despicable.|||Not much. The problem was that they offered very low rates as a "teaser" to get people thinking that buying on credit was a cheap thing to do. And, there is a sucker born every minute as P. T. Barnum used to say.





When the rates had to go to normal levels, what a surprise! If you were one of them, you will find the source of your problems in the mirror.|||if credit cards are part of the crisis, it's the fault of the card owner. No one makes anyone build up debt on a credit card. It's a choice the owner of the card made. Interest rates have always been high on credit cards. If they accepted the first inflated interest rate, they were probably okay with the increase.





It's called personal responsibility.|||Major role. Hence I cancelled credit cards, put that money in savings. If I cannot afford it, I don't buy it until I can. 2% interest better than paying 9, 12, 29% interest. Hurricanes Gustov then Ike hit. Credit card companies site, phone message stated that due to storms, limited staff available......then when my payment late, raised interest. Screw them....let em go bankrupt.|||SENATE TARGETS ABUSES BY CREDIT CARD FIRMS - New York Post


... war on deceptive credit abuses and interest-rate gouging by card issuers. ... What's worse, he said, is that credit card companies that have put more than 640 ...


nypost.com/seven/01262007/business/sen鈥?- 60k - Cached





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Credit Card Reform:


Stop credit card companies from gouging me! Dear [Decision Maker] ... My credit card company shouldn't be allowed to arbitrarily hike my interest rate ...


secure.consumersunion.org/site/Advocac鈥?- Cached


To answer %26gt;


Their greed and scams have played a major role in this crisis in my opinion.


I have never used a credit card nor am I tempted to.|||A great deal. Btw, another thing Bush allowed to happen. He could have put a stop to that practice as soon as it started snowballing a few years back, but I guess that they paid him a large enough cut that he had his crew look the other way.|||Yes I noticed immediately. Smart people pay attention to interest rates and dump cards or refinace them as necessary. With this economy, I've paid all my credit down besides what I can't (my mortgage and car payment) and have "in my mind" told the banks and merchandizers to stick it where the sun does not shine.|||yea 2 points!|||Credit cards were only a good deal when you were allowed to deduct the interest on your tax return.|||I don't have any so I can't tell you.