Word: credit-card
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
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...
...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...
...deal in which the best customers pay the least--and best doesn't necessarily mean those who have no balance. Instead of charging everyone a uniformly high rate, as in the past, the issuers offer lower rates and punish the offenders. "This is the best time to be a credit-card consumer," argues George McCane, senior vice president of corporate affairs at First USA. "Rates are as low as they've ever been [national average: 15.8%], and for those who meet the regulations of the agreement, they stay...
Meanwhile, a similar suit has been brought against First USA, the No. 1 credit-card issuer with 45 million accounts, for deliberately "delaying posting of customer payments in order to charge late fees and penalty interest"--an allegation the company denies. First USA's alleged trick was to mark statements as arriving on time only if they were received by 8 a.m. of the due date. The company has since changed that time--to 10 a.m. In San Francisco, Providian Financial faces lawsuits for allegedly billing customers for services they didn't want, like credit insurance. Providian says the charges...