NEWS- Capital one is raising the default APR on ALL of their CC cardholders
 

anyone else get the letter today?

so they get almost $3 billion in TARP bailout funds and still stick it to their customers.


I've had my cap one card for years and have never been late on a payment and always pay more than the amount due and my APR went up ~ 33%

outrageous.

they're a bottom feeding scum company anyway. not surprised.

Capitol One is a predatory lending company....Fuck them.

considering how low lending rates are currently. Thats very fucked up.

not just cap one, here's the lowdown i've found on other cc banks raising rates

Citigroup
Citing a “difficult market environment,” Citigroup recently raised interest rates by an average of 3 percentage points for many customers. Citigroup says cardholders can write a letter or call the company to continue using their cards at the previous rate until their cards expire. After that, the accounts will be closed. Customers have about 60 days after receiving notification to decline the new rate.

American Express
American Express announced in November that it would increase the interest rates on many credit-card accounts — including standard purchase rates, default rates and cash advance rates — by 2 to 3 percentage points. The changes are being made “in response to the challenging economic environment and the increasing costs of doing business,” says spokeswoman Desiree Fish. Cardholders cannot opt out of the new rates and must pay their balances in full if they want to avoid the new interest rate.

Discover
Discover plans to raise interest rates for 1.5 million of its 50 million card holders who have APRs roughly between 4 and 11 percent. The company sent out notification letters last month, and the new rates will take effect March 1. Consumers have 45 days after getting notice of the new terms to opt out of the higher rate, close their accounts and pay off their balances at the previous rate.

Bank of America
If Bank of America raises your interest rate after reassessing your credit risk — which could be dinged if you miss a payment, take out numerous loans or default on loans to other lenders — you have 25 days after receiving notification to reject the rate. They’ll still give you this option if you speak up after receiving your first statement with the new rate. If you take this route, you can continue to pay off the balance at the original rate but you must stop using your card immediately.

Chase
Chase is taking “borrower risk, market conditions and the costs … of making loans” into account when deciding whether to change a customer’s credit line or interest rate, says spokeswoman Gail Hurdis. Customers who’ve been notified of increased interest rates have up to 45 days to close their accounts and pay off their balance at the original rate.

THem guys need to burn in fucking hell.

I can understand a category based increase but across the board? Fucked up.

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh :1orglaugh

Capital One is actually my favorite credit card at the moment - super low interest rate. It will suck if what you say is true...

My first credit card i got from my bank - it has 1/3 of the balance of my Capital One card, yet the amount i pay on interest is about the same. I got raped over stupid shit. For example doing a payment transfer on a Friday night, for a payment that was due on Sunday, only for the transfer to complete on Monday/Tuesday. $60 fee + 10+% interest hike. I love paying 25+% interest!

that's up 33% not TO 33%. (which is what the account rep told me the approximate increase is for all cardholders)

well, i'd look for the notice in the mail any day, unfortunately.

my default apr WASN'T bad either, i didn't really have a problem with them. i carry a small balance with them for credit rating purposes but pay cash for everything these days. just think it's outrageous that they are penalizing their cardholders AND getting TARP funds

Were your numbers similar to this?
Image of the mailing:
http://consumerist.com/5149434/capit...ed-to-pay-more

Article:
http://consumerist.com/5149434/capit...ed-to-pay-more

most people are simply going to stop paying their usurious debts. many already are.

yes, that's exactly the doc i recieved in the mail today.

I've gotten notices from citi and discover recently saying basically the same thing.

At least they give you the option to opt out. You can cancel your account and pay down the remaining balance under the terms of your current agreement.....or you can keep your account open and accept the new rate.

FWIW, I'm no fan of credit card companies....but TARP funds weren't a gift, they were a loan/stock purchase and the company has to pay the govt a 5% dividend on that money until they can buy the stock back.

They're obviously going to have to loan the money out at a much higher rate than 5% to make a profit. TARP funds didn't turn them into non-profit organizations.

They also know they're about to get hammered with the wave of bankruptcies that's surely coming down the pipe.

yah, i don't like closing accounts, especially ones that i've worked hard to get to the credit line this one has. closing them is a neg hit on the credit report, as you prolly know eh.

i will just pay off the balance before april and never use it again though.

I think mine is/was 7.9% with them. I'll call tomorrow.

i understand that and i don't expect for one second for banks to operate as an NPO, i am a capitalist at heart.

but if cap one can't figure out how to make a profit at the predatory lending rates they've typically had AND they get baillout money and their CEO makes $17 million + a year AND they categorically raise rates on their best customers, it makes me upset.

damn.... glad I don't use cards

Only suckers pay interest on credit cards anyway...

If they increase my rate by 33% it WILL be at 33%. I have 3 cards all will be canceled as soon as I get anotice in the mail. fuck them the only one of my cards that still charge an anual fee. My credit limit on them isn't high enough to justify their bullshit. One cards I've had 7 yeas and only 1 credit limit increase another one 6 years and not ANY limit increases. Meanwhile BOA gave me a card right off the bat with a limit 5X higher and no fee.

fuckin cocksuckers. thats absolutely bullshit

it's because everyone is defaulting. i am in canada and defaults on cards are up 30 percent.

their phony models didn't predict it.

that's why all tax return is going to pay off & close the 2 cards I have. feels good man

And if they are not raising the APR they are cutting the credit lines. I had one card in particular go from a 10k credit line to 1k. I owed nothing on it, and had always paid it off either right after I made the charges or shortly after. Was a card I would use primarily for traveling to shows to keep the bookkeeping easy.
They may have well just cancelled it. Now it is useless to me, plus it still fucks your score up if you have balances elsewhere cause it screws with your credit to debt ratio.

wow, that's a huge cut!

ge capital cut my paypal cc from $1500 to $1350 which i found bizarre since i never even use that card, it has a zero balance.

http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/p...302099949/1031

TIM GRANT
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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Even people with long credit histories who make credit card payments on time are seeing credit lines reduced, interest rates increased and fewer offers in the mail for credit cards.

Yeah I was pretty taken aback. I have a few small cards that I have had forever that had 500 to 1000 credit lines (never bothered asking for more etc, just real old cards) that also got notices from interest rate adjustments to altering in terms and reductions in credit.

that;s what you call a good ass fucking. :1orglaugh

I think when I first got mine, it was 7.9%, and yea, I got that piece of mail. Fucking ridiculous. :(

If my Cap One rate goes up at all I'm closing it.

Good point. I love my cards because of the rewards points, a little bit of protection in case your purchase wasn't as stated, and helps me track spending because I like to pretend I'm going to be more efficient one of these days. But mostly I like that I don't have coins in my pocket after buying something. God I love that. That said, paying the balance in full every month so you don't pay interest is the only way to do it.

a small credit card balance is a positive on your credit rating. that's why i usually keep up to 20% of the available credit as a balance on a few of my cards.

my credit rating is important to me, i've been obsessed with managing it for years now.

Chase just upped my cards APR.. Like I give a fuck...

I called and they said that they did a massive rate hike to a lot of people but not everyone. They want to lend less but not close accounts so they are trying to dissuade you from using the card. Anyone with "good or worse credit" or had a decent sized balance got a rate hike. Naturally I have excellent credit and no balance so mine wasn't raised ;)

that's not the case for me, nor what i was told. my credit rating hovers around 700, according to freecreditreport.com, knowing they can be off by up to 50 points, that still puts me in 650+ to 750 category. not to mention my small balance with cap one and also what i was informed when i called. also the reports on the internet stating an increase across the board.

that being said, i don't think people there know wtf is going on overall.

either way, i sent in a payment paying off my balance on the card.

I just pay my credit cards in full every month,doesnt matter if the interest is set at 1000%,i have never paid 1 cent in interest in my 15 years having credit cards.

Rewards are nice too chase is paying 3% rewards on the first 1000 i spend per month then it drops to 1% after that.

Only time i dont pay off a credit account in full is when its a 0% promotion.

I just pay internest on my home loan,but my last car load was 0%

I got 0% interest for 6 months

Yep received it.

The next e-mail from them was something about saving me some APR if I did a loan of some kind through them.

Yeah sure. Bend me over, then ask for more business.

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

Well, there is one more card I am paying off and canceling then. I have another card that has decided to start charging me a Customer Service fee of $15 every month to help pay for their customer service that barely speaks English and send me paperless bills.