Just saw a report that so many credit card holders are defaulting on their loans??!!

Frankly I have no sympathy for the banks.

The ENCOURAGING this because the unbelievable interest rates they are allowed to charge!

I have credits cards.

They are paid, automatically, every month.

A few years ago, looking at my statement, saw that an INTEREST has been charged because I haven’t paid my bill.

That was total bullshit, of course, because the bank has my instructions to pay it every month.

I called them to see what was going on.

“Sorry, it was a mistake. We won’t charge you next month!”

I asked for the interest hanged to be return to me.

“We cannot do that. But it will not happen again!”

Told them I am closing my account immediately!

Less than hour later, the manager calls.

He apologized for what had happened, and promised my account will be credited immediately back all interest charges they took!

Never happened again!

Now, I am almost sure if we didn’t have relatively large accounts with them, they would not have been so forthcoming!

All around us, most business are charging an extra 3% to use a card! Seems the banks are getting to them also. Most are again wanting cash or check! Image wanting a check now, at least some can run a check while you are standing there!

My credit card bill averages $6000/month, has been a high as $30,000. I always pay it in full, never accrue interest charges, and could care less what the interest rate is. Meanwhile I accrue frequent flier miles and elevated ff status. My wife and I charge literally everything that can be charged. I never carry more than $50. Anyone who doesn’t pay off a CC bill in full is an idiot. Apparently though, the world is full of such idiots….

My father (a smart man) would always use his credit cards and buy at the beginning of the month/billing period and always pay in full at the end of the month/billing period.
This way he used someone elses money for roughly 5 weeks for free.
(no credit card fees back then).

Hip

That’s exactly what I do. It’s an interest free loan/ float for 5-6 weeks. Only a financial idiot carries a month to month balance.

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
That’s exactly what I do. It’s an interest free loan/ float for 5-6 weeks. Only a financial idiot carries a month to month balance.

I hope we can agree that in some cases it takes decades to acrue this wisdom.
I am with you now and carefully manage my credit, but in previous years and decades,.....

Report says the banks are writing off over 4 billion dollars in bad credit card debts!

Who pays that??

I can't remember the last time I paid cash for anything. Credit cards are very convenient. The down side is that the banks charge the merchants something like 3% on every transaction. The merchants raise their prices accordingly. 3% a month isn't a bad rate of return. And guess who gets to pay for all those bad debts?
C.G.B.

Diners Club really opened up a can of worms with that one.

Actually I am glad we live in a society which still relies on cash transactions.

Lots of our business here is cash based.

Whenever a cashier returns my change correctly, I always compliment them, as anymore it seems to be such a rarity.

Here's another thing.

Have you checked the rate of interest on your card lately?

It is likely at or in excess of 22%, no matter how good your credit rating may be.

But one telephone call can reduce the rate by 7-10%.

Just tell them you are going to cancel your account unless they improve your rate.

They will do so immediately, right on the call, and thank you for your business!

I'd be outraged if I had any further capacity for that.

Now that restaurants (+ others) are charging for credit card use, we are relearning to pay cash. What a great idea.

Gentlemen, a sign of the times.

More and more and more places of business WILL NOT ACCEPT CASH!!!

I was at a place recently that refused to accept my cash money or anyone else's.

There was a big sign stating that right at the entrance!

They had a machine that would accept your cash and issue you a credit card pre-loaded with the cash amount so that you could patronize their business on their terms.

I turned around and walked out.

That strikes me as odd! All US paper money has this printed on the front: "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private".

DIA parking will no longer accept cash at the exits. If you want to pay in cash you have to go to a kiosk and pay.
C.G.B.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:
Gentlemen, a sign of the times.

More and more and more places of business WILL NOT ACCEPT CASH!!!

I was at a place recently that refused to accept my cash money or anyone else's.

There was a big sign stating that right at the entrance!

They had a machine that would accept your cash and issue you a credit card pre-loaded with the cash amount so that you could patronize their business on their terms.

I turned around and walked out.

On principle I will not deal with any business that says they will not accept cash!

I’ve had credit cards for over 50 years, and have not paid a penny interest yet. I pay them off every month. Those that end up paying the excessive interest, are unfortunately the people that can least afford it.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Report says the banks are writing off over 4 billion dollars in bad credit card debts!

Who pays that??

The people paying the usurious interest rates.

Another thought: Using credit cards encourage spending beyond what would using cash.

Saeed,

Reminds me of a situation I had with my bank a number of years ago. The same bank has all my accounts and has had the mortgages on my houses over the years. At one point, I had an ARM with a balloon. I got busy, my wife is supposed to keep track of that, which she did, but she didn't understand the refinancing process, so she didn't tell me the ballo0n payment was due until the night before it was due.

I didn't think that was a big problem given my relationship with the bank. So I called my banker and they wanted to add multiple points to refinance given the timing. They thought they had me. The Ass on the phone for the bank said he'd ruin my credit if I didn't agree to this blackmail. So I got tired of arguing with him and said fine, I'll pay off the mortgage today. He laughed, but I could hear the keyboard clicking in the background. He was looking at my accounts and it was apparent that I could pay off the mortgage that day.

AMAZINGLY, they wanted to refinance and there would be no points, in fact, they had a better interest rate.

Bankers are assholes.

Like the old saying goes: "I'm not living beyond my means; just a little bit ahead of them."

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Michalski:
Another thought: Using credit cards encourage spending beyond what would using cash.