[ArmyBimmerDude]

My wife just received a letter in the mail stating that they're adjusting their pricing and raising the variable APR for purchases to 23.99%. Her credit score is darn near 800 and she's never been late with a payment in 4 years of being with them. Her balance is less than $1k and after calling them, she was told that they're doing this to everyone because of the economy blah blah.

Has anyone else received a letter like this? We're not worried about it, she'll just pay off the balance and close the account, but for those people living on their credit cards, it could be a nightmare.

[BMWM3DREAM]

What was the APR before this news? This is ridiculous.

[ChineseGuy]

Citibank is like a loanshark....

[ArmyBimmerDude]

Originally Posted by Bmoney2K4

What was the APR before this news? This is ridiculous.

Hers is 8.99% till the end of Dec, then it shoots up. I can scan the paper if anyone would like to see it. I really am shocked. I've read in the news that citi is struggling, but this is too funny.

[Memphis1]

happening everywhere, not just you... pay the balance in full every month and that wont even matter

[tooshay]

every freaking credit card company is raising the rate. they are just ripping all their customers off. they borrow money from the Fed for like 0% and charging everyone 20%+. Thank you Federal government for bailing out all those stupid banks so that they can rip off the American people.

[ArmyBimmerDude]

Originally Posted by memphis2012

happening everywhere, not just you... pay the balance in full every month and that wont even matter

I totally agree with you. She used it while overseas for an emergency with her grandfather died, thats the only reason theres a balance. I call yesterday and USAA offered me a credit card that was less than 10% APR. Maybe thats only because they deal with the military, not sure. I wouldnt use it anyway except for emergencies.

[persian54]

Originally Posted by memphis2012

happening everywhere, not just you... pay the balance in full every month and that wont even matter

+1
Except like the OP said for those living on credit cards... this is hell

I actually have no idea what my rates are as I pay in full every month but yeah..

I personally like Citibank though

They've always been good to me; they were special good to me when I had a CitiGold account...

[bigslickak]

I got a similar letter last week from Citibank, but mine is going to 29.99 APR

that's from 11.24% right now, and 8% last year (I was able to get them to reduce the increase last time, but not this time). I too have a good credit score - mid 700's and never been late with them.

Originally Posted by memphis2012

happening everywhere, not just you... pay the balance in full every month and that wont even matter

Except when they start charging more fees for not carrying a revolving balance, which I've heard a lot of banks are doing.

I believe my paperwork says this is only for new purchases, I have a few grand revolving with them so I'll take a few months to pay it off and move on. We will all watch the bankruptcy rate continue to climb.

[pdjafari]

So much for Obama's promises of helping the 'american people'....

[guess2098]

Originally Posted by tooshay

every freaking credit card company is raising the rate. they are just ripping all their customers off. they borrow money from the Fed for like 0% and charging everyone 20%+. Thank you Federal government for bailing out all those stupid banks so that they can rip off the American people.

i remember Fed charge 8 to 12% for bank bailout if i am correct.
btw my AE credit card is 22.99% and chase is 21.99%

[Feyd]

I signed up for a credit card through B of A a couple years ago that had an 8.99% fixed APR for the life of the acct.

It'd been all good for the last 18 months or so, but I did just get a letter saying that they were going to be switching to a variable rate. Its currently 9.99% which isn't bad, but its complete horse-shit that they can do things like that. Mind you I've got no balances on any of my cards, so I guess they are just doing it to everyone. *shrug* All the CC companies are located in Delaware where the rules and regulations for this type of stuff are basically non-existant. Go America....

I had a good amount of credit card debt at one point in my life. I was living and working in NY and my expenses vs. pay were putting me in the red every month. It wasn't from me buying crap I didn't need, it was just basics like food/gas, etc... My biggest issue is that my car kept breaking down and I had no money to fix it. I had like 4 or 5k on a credit card and without warning my rate jumped from 13% to 25% for NO reason. I think they just saw that I had a balance for a few months straight and were just poaching.

So happy that part of my life is over. It was necessary for work experience, and in the end it paid off in spades, but damn... pretty scary when something like that happens to you.

[mpimping]

Yeah everywhere.

[808six]

i got the same letter..., ill probably close it and just pay it off at my current rate...only problem is idk if i can get another card at a good rate, im guessing all new account will get a high rate from here on out

[FStop7]

consumer credit is dead

[Memphis1]

808six:
don't close it if you have a long time with that credit card, it will lower your credit score

[808six]

good point, but if i dont close it i gotta pay it off at the 24%..if i close it i get to pay it at 12% atleast....decisions, gotta make my mind up before november is up, im thinking to kepe it open and prehaps ask them to lower my rate down the road. i do have a long satnding with them, good standing at that

[xsb00st]

Credit card companies are raising their APRs before 2010 Federal regulations go into effect on Feb 1, 2010. New regs will make it harder for credit companies to raise APRs, charge late fees, etc.

Since they're going to lose revenue because of the new regulations, they make it up by raising APRs.

Edit: I'm not 100% sure on the Feb 1 effective date, but it's around there.

[Oregano123]

Discover isnt raising their rates. thats why i only theirs. in fact, they increased my credit limit

[persian54]

Originally Posted by bmwhype

Discover isnt raising their rates. thats why i only theirs. in fact, they increased my credit limit

But discover isn't nearly as accepted as other cards :/

[ideliver]

You can thank our Democratic congress for "helping" us by passing the consumer credit protection legislation...

This is not a reflection of you or your wife...just a pissing match between congress and the banks...

Too bad...we loose...

[Dmitriy@AUTOcouture]

This is going to kill the Retail Spending report for the Xmas/Shopping season. Short retailers and pay off your debt with the profits.