http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Ban...ardholders.aspx

I was talking to a buddy about this the other day. He had the same thing happen to him through another bank. His interst rate went from 15 to 28% even though he has a low balance, no late pays and excellent credit scores.

Admittedly, I never read any of the fine print on the crap B of A sends me. Might be worth a call to see if your bank has jacked up your interest rate on your credit cards

Not sure it will make much difference to me since I keep all my credit cards at zero or near zero.....never make minimum payments. I heard that card rates (all you have) can jump up somewhere around 45% if you are even one day late on one account. You didn't REALLY think that your favorite home bank had YOUR best interest in mind, did you? Things all around are going to get really tough for those who are/have been credit indebted.

Slab,
Didn't think that at all. B of A is far from a Seattle home town bank. I don't own anything on my cards anyway.
This was more of a FYI post as to what's going on in the CC industry. I'm sure some folks just like my buddy will be in for a big surprise when they open their next statement.
Maybe they just need the good paying folks to make up for their lending mistakes in their credit card and mortgage divisions

Yup, I never ever carry debt except my mortgage. Many years ago I carried a small balance on a First USA card. They tried jacking the rate up and I opted out. Then they retaliated and jacked it even higher. After several nasty calls to them I went straight to our state attorney general and the personal secretary of the president of First USA called me to make it all better. This industry is way over due for some heavy handed legislation. For one they like to claim they need to charge more because of dead beats yet they actively award cards to students who have zero income. I say they should eat that loss.

When credit card companies used to call me and tell me their interest rate , I would tell them that I don't care what the rate is because I pay it off at the end of the cycle anyway. They never called back. They did not want me.

Advice: Get a card that gives air miles and pay it off monthly, then who cares what the interest rate is? I haven't paid for an airline ticket for years and I haven't paid any credit card interest. It is a win win situation.

Not everyone is able to do this, but the quicker you can, the better. Imagine: Getting free airline tickets just because you pay it all off on time.

As AuntyM says, "Stick it to em".

My REI VISA is issued by US Bank, and they recently raised the interest rate to some rediculous level. I don't pay much attention to it because I pay it off in full each month. They apparently appreciate that so much that they reward my diligence by awarding a hefty late payment fee. Twice I've been one or two days late (it's a senior moment thing; I set the bill on my desk and cover it with other stuff and forget about it). The last late fee was a combination of $30 late fee plus minimum interest regardless of balance or some such that added up to $49. That pissed me off, but then I was late. I'll feel better when I go buy a bunch of goodies at REI with my dividend.

I thought about an Alaska or United credit card, but they both charge $75 a year just for the privilege of holding their card and earning air miles.

not sure if you guys have a Costco Mebership, but if you dont have a American Express hooked up to it i would think about it...AMEX just started giving back 3% on all gas purchases...that is a lot of money in my household...i know last year just on the AMEX i spent over 4 grand in gas, for our cars, truck and boat...thats some good cash back...

i never carry a balance on my credit cards...im not paying more...and if i cant pay for it i dont buy it...the only time i would be ok with that is if there was a serious problem, i just want points, cash back, and anything else i should have coming, they are making a heck of a lot of money anyway...c

oh yeah...you dont have to buy gas at Costco either...you go to AMPM, Shell, wherever, as long as it is not Safeway, or Fred Meyer,or who already has club card savings on thier gas...they still give ya 3%...we were concerned about that and asked cause they dont sell Deisel...c