Text 12111, 34 rader
Skriven 2010-11-15 12:12:04 av Bob Ackley (1:300/3)
  Kommentar till text 12085 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
Ärende: Unbelieveable stories
=============================
Replying to a message of Robert Bashe to TIM RICHARDSON:

 TR>> On the up side....the experience made me realize what ripoff artists
 TR>> credit card companies are! I don't think the Mafia charges the sort
 TR>> of interest American credit card companies do!

 RB> Unfortunately, it's not only the American ones. The average savings
 RB> interest _you_ get here in Germany is currently 1.5% at best, whereas
 RB> the average interest charged for credit card debt ranges around
 RB> 12-14%. At my bank (Deutsche Kreditbank, DKB), the rate is 7.90% and
 RB> that's one of the lowest rates available.

Tim is correct, we used to put people in jail for charging *twelve* percent
annual interest.  Today the low interest rates on credit cards are 12 to 14
percent annual interest (compounded every minute or two) and can range up
to 40 percent.  Plus outrageous fees and charges - US$40 if your payment
is one day late (and they can - and do - fudge that by holding up posting of
payments received *on* the due date for one day so they .can hit the card 
holder with a 'late' fee *and* increase the monthly interest rate as a penalty
for that 'late' payment.  Bank of America is infamous for that sort of thing.

 TR>> I paid off all of them, cut them up, and haven't used a credit card
 TR>> since. I have a Visa card through my bank with a high limit on it
 TR>> that I kept, but I don't owe anything on it, and rarely use it. When
 TR>> I do have to use it, I pay it off completely in a month or two.

 RB> I have several credit cards, but also only use them rarely, mainly for
 RB> Internet purchases.

Then they hit you with an annual fee for the 'privilege' of holding their card.
One card is *advertising* an annual fee of about US$150.

--- FleetStreet 1.19+
 * Origin: Bob's Boneyard, Emerson, Iowa (1:300/3)