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Credit Card Companies are Tightening Their Grip on Consumers

When was the last time you looked at your credit card statement? When you did, you might have received a nasty surprise. Credit limits are falling off and interest rates are rising as a direct result of the credit crunch. If you previously enjoyed low interest rates before, don’t be shocked if they more than double in the future.

Even as card holders are protesting the changes made to their accounts, credit card companies are unsympathetic to their pleas. Before the credit crisis, card companies might have been sympathetic to the occasional late payment. Maybe even extend the grace period on purchases or waive late fees and penalty interest, but not anymore.

These days card holders who miss a payment by one or two days find themselves strangled by 30% interest rates. Pleading calls to card companies are largely unsuccessful; customer service agents apologize, but claim that they are simply unable to waive any fees at this time. That’s because banks and other lenders, scared silly – and justifiably so – by the current economic climate, are tightening their purse strings and their standards. To maintain good relations last year, card holders simply needed to pay in a timely manner and communicate with their lenders when a late payment was unavoidable.