Word: cards
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...last avenue of relief--personal bankruptcy--is about to get tougher too. Congress is close to passing a controversial bill that would make it harder for average Americans to write off bad credit-card debt, though Visa and others insist only well-off deadbeats would be affected...
...however, disgruntled cardholders are fighting back, filing a barrage of class actions and calling on Washington to rein in the industry's perceived excesses, such as preying on college students and the poor. In May, President Clinton said the industry should include more information in credit-card solicitations. A bill introduced by Democratic Congressman John LaFalce of New York would do just that. It calls for fuller disclosure about fees, expiration dates of teaser rates and how long it would take to pay off a balance with only the minimum. (For instance, if you paid just the minimum...
Here's how little faith Steve McNamara has in his credit-card company: every month, rather than simply drop his payment in a mailbox, the Mill Valley, Calif., resident trudges to the post office to send in his Visa bill by certified mail, so he'll have the receipt as proof that he paid on time...
Last year, you see, when McNamara was doing things the conventional way, the credit-card issuer, Chevy Chase Bank (whose portfolio has since been acquired by the First USA unit of Bank One), slapped him with four $29 late fees even though he regularly mailed his check two weeks before the due date. McNamara figures not even the Postal Service could screw things up that consistently, and he's convinced the bank purposely delayed processing his bills, a charge Chevy Chase denies. "They use low introductory rates and send cards to anyone and their dog," says McNamara, "and they have...
...helping propel industry-wide fee revenue, which now accounts for nearly 20% of all revenue, from $10 billion in '96 to $19 billion in '98, according to CardWeb.com Financial giants Citigroup, Bank One and Chase just reported strong second-quarter earnings, fueled by double-digit growth in credit-card income...