Word: late
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...account, it allowed AOL buddy-list users to sign in too--if they entered their password. That set off alarm bells at AOL, which promptly blocked Microsoft's access to its server. Microsoft came up with a fix, which AOL also jammed. A terse exchange of snail mail followed. Late last week AOL customers were greeted at login by an ominous new start-up screen warning of the dangers of giving passwords to strangers...
...current heat wave, the National Weather Service says there won't be much relief until late August. And from Joe Gilbo's perch high in the Capitol, the hot air may be felt for much longer than that...
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...
...same way that banks are bombarding customers with ATM and service fees, giants like Citigroup, MBNA, Bank of America and American Express are raising fees, to $20 or $30, for being late or over limit. They're also shortening and rigidly enforcing grace periods on bill payments, upping foreign-transaction fees and imposing penalty interest rates of 20% or more. Some bewildered customers are being punished for not charging enough (inactivity fees). And even if you pay your MasterCard, say, but fall behind on your Discover charge, the MasterCard issuer might raise your interest rate, because you're deemed...
...working. In the past few years the average late fee has soared 75%, from around $12 in 1995 to more than $21 at the end of last year, according to Consumer Action. Today charges run as high as $35 a pop, 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...