Friday Fun Video: Debtors Revolt
September 25, 2009 by Miranda Marquit
Filed under Finance
This video from an angry Bank of America credit card holder is making the rounds. It’s an interesting video (and one with a couple of swears), and it illustrates a depressing situation that many people find themselves in. It’s a strident call for action, and she makes some good points, but we would do well to remember a couple of things:
- In many cases, credit card debt is self-imposed, and we have created our own bonds.
- Credit card companies can legally still do pretty much whatever they want with your terms. They just have to give you 45 days notice now, and can’t do it retroactively, thanks to the Credit CARD Act.
That said, it is true that credit cards do employ many unfair practices, and they do work hard to keep you in debt (and paying obscene amounts of interest). And I myself am a little annoyed. My Discover card issued by GE Money Bank is jacking up my interest rate again. Unlike the woman in the video (who, it turns out, did miss a payment), I have not missed a payment. And most months I pay off what I charge on the card. This comes after having my credit line reduced. I’m severely annoyed. If I didn’t need the available credit to help score in order to get a good refinance rate, I’d cancel today.
Well, she’s right that 30% exceeds usury. She’s right that credit-card issuers should never have been allowed to charge usurious rates. She’s right that the banking industry is profiting mightily on the corpse of the American (and world) economy.
But she’s nuts to forego payments and deliberately trash her credit rating: employers now check your credit rating. If you’re credit has slipped because you’re out of a job, you can’t get a job. Cute, eh? She’s at enough risk of having that happen without deliberately speeding the process along.
The best borrower’s revolt is to get out of debt ASAP and then never charge another penny.
I’d take it a step further. Sign up for a rewards plan and then pay off your card each month. That way you don’t pay interest, and the credit card issuer owes you something!
I like your revolt plan a lot better than hers. Time to turn on the shredder!