Have you noticed your credit card interest rates...........

[Arizona Wayne]

.............going sky high all of a sudden?   When you have done nothing wrong and suddenly 18% is the new low rate?    Glad I don't owe any $ for stuff I have already bought.    This reminds me of the 80s when 18% interest was the norm for credit(Jimmy Carter).   

[LowRyter]

usury,  at least it used to be.

[Arizona Wayne]

usury,  at least it used to be.

This time I think it has to do with printing too many dollar bills with nothing to back them up.

[Arizona Wayne]

Oklahoma allows 21.99% , in fact HD finances bikes in OK at that rate for some customers .

 Dusty

No wonder HD is so profitable. 

 We don't sell MCs, we sell a lifestyle.......... ...........yea, baby, an expensive lifestyle only an idiot can appreciate.    "There's a sucker born every minute."

[Arizona Wayne]

Certainly part of it . Not everyone gets charged that rate . My nephew the HD salesman clued me in on this . Haven't had a CC in years , a friend says his goal is to run up a million dollars in CC debt before he passes , leave the bastages holding the bag 

 Dusty

He could do like an ex neighbor I had who went into bankruptcy.   Wait a few years and go into bankruptcy again!!     Some people never learn.............. like drunk drivers

[rodekyll]

My take on credit:

I decided when I got my very own credit card (wasn't till this century when e-commerce happened) that I would treat it like cash.  Up until then I used cash, up front, pay-as-I-go.  It works good.  Self limiting and real.  I just bought a truck with a stack of unhappy-looking Benjamins, handed to a happy-looking guy not named Benjamin.  We shook hands.  That felt real.  More secure than a credit card transaction, too.

When I can no longer pay my balance at the end of the month I'll stop using the credit card -- just like I stop using cash when it runs out.  With the credit card (and an ungodly credit line  I have the option of spending money I don't have if I'm in a bind (or buying a Goldwing -- the more you pay your bill the more they dare you to charge more with a higher spend limit), but I haven't ever carried a balance to the next month except that time I spaced out and forgot to pay it.  I generally round the payment up to the next hundred just to make my math easier, and because I'll owe it in a month anyway.  No interest, no late fees.  Just their yearly fee.  And they guarantee my purchases and give me airline miles.  I don't owe anything anywhere except maybe the current cable modem bill.  I must be banking's worst nightmare.

[Sasquatch Jim]

 Usury is a crime in most states.  The credit card companies have an office in a state that has no usury law and so call it their headquarters.  That way they can charge  what ever they want anywhere in the country.
 It's how bussiness is done these days thanks to lawyers and rental politicians.
  It is also whyy I cut up all my cards 25  years ago.

[Murray]

No I havn't mind you I don't have a credit card, I finally broke down and got a master debit card in the last few years for e-commerce. Without getting too political Govts will happily stand in front of a TV camera and claim their management has resulted in low interest rates. They will disown high interest rates as market forces reality says very low interest rates are the signs of a struggling economy, very high interest rates are the sign of an overheated economy this is generally set by market forces, govts have very little influence on this.

[Calculon]

I was a cash payer too until recently, figuring if I couldn't afford it, I probably didn't need it, but there are some benefits to CCs.  Probably the biggest plus is that they're much safer than a debit card.  If your credit card gets stolen, they're spending the banks money.  If your debit card gets stolen the money comes right out of your account, which I've had happen a few times, and you're at the mercy of your banks policy as to how fast you'll get your money back.

The second is the cash back.  I probably make $600-800 a year using my CCs for cashback, which isn't a huge amount, but it's basically free money over swiping a debit card or paying with cash/check.  I can thankfully afford to pay my bills every month since my needs are modest, so I won't get hit with interest charges.

[Chuck in Indiana]

I was a cash payer too until recently, figuring if I couldn't afford it, I probably didn't need it, but there are some benefits to CCs.  Probably the biggest plus is that they're much safer than a debit card.  If your credit card gets stolen, they're spending the banks money.  If your debit card gets stolen the money comes right out of your account, which I've had happen a few times, and you're at the mercy of your banks policy as to how fast you'll get your money back.

The second is the cash back.  I probably make $600-800 a year using my CCs for cashback, which isn't a huge amount, but it's basically free money over swiping a debit card or paying with cash/check.  I can thankfully afford to pay my bills every month since my needs are modest, so I won't get hit with interest charges.

This.
We make more money from cash back on credit cards than CDs. 

[Gliderjohn]

Use them as needed or convenient then pay off in full each month. When we took over my Mom's finances she had a Bank of America card. We contacted them by phone requesting cancellation, sent them a fax with the cancellation request along with copies of the conservator papers. What did they do? They add me and my wife to the card instead. I was not as nice the second time around but they did close the account.
GliderJohn

[Aaron D.]

The big rule with credit cards-NEVER run a balance. If you pay 18% on your card, do whatever you have to to dump that debt.

Money is a commodity, and there is a cost to it. Find a better price, dumopthe expensive card debt, and never sin again.

[Perazzimx14]

I used to pay cash for everything now I rarely carry cash for reason like Chuck in Indiana stated. I also in 24-1/2 years of having a CC have only once carried a balance for only one month while I was in the middle of switching CC companies. I have gotten several $500 cash back checks during this time and have only paid about $3 in total interest. I have never cared if CC interest rated were 0%, 100% or somewhere in between because I pay the bill in full every month.Only buy what I can afford to payoff every month and a CC is an asset not a burden.

[Cool Runnings]

Image the money people waste on iPhones. 

[sib]

This time I think it has to do with printing too many dollar bills with nothing to back them up.

That's voodoo economics.

I haven't paid a cent of credit card interest in several decades.  It's the absolute worst way to borrow money, even worse than going to Vinny down at the bar.  On the other hand, I net about $1000 in rewards every year, because I charge everything I possibly can to my cash back cards, even my insurance premiums.  I make the credit card companies work for me.  You can, too.

[Cool Runnings]

That's voodoo economics.

I haven't paid a cent of credit card interest in several decades.  It's the absolute worst way to borrow money, even worse than going to Vinny down at the bar.  On the other hand, I net about $1000 in rewards every year, because I charge everything I possibly can to my cash back cards, even my insurance premiums.  I make the credit card companies work for me.  You can, too.

yet how much do you blow on that iPhone per year? $1,200. 

[sidecarnutz]

Usury is legal in Va. The government has been in the pockets of bankers since the end of the civil war.

[Fuzzy]

In my opinion, which usually kills threads, the government has enormous influence on interest rates. However it is mostly on rates we can earn, not pay, especially when it comes to credit cards.

Banks have successfully lobbied the government to severely limit the ability of serial bankruptcies due to credit card misuse. I don't believe the average consumer can do that any more. The issuers favorite kind of client is a client that carries a balance, but pays some amount regularly, in other words, the financially fragile yet honest. They are bombarded with offers for new cards from a variety of banks. The banks woo the vulnerable rather than the sophisticated. The sophisticated can apply for lines of credit or home interest loans. Those are scrutinized a little more closely now than they were a few years ago, and I'll bet a majority of us on this forum would qualify. But would you take one to buy a mint T-3? It's tempting at 2.9% for the first year. Almost free money, for a while.

In our house, we are like Rodekyll, we use credit cards, but don't carry balances.

The most visible battle for the money industry to protect their ability to charge usurious rates is the payday loan industry. Those at the bottom of the pecking order, the most vulnerable and least sophisticated, are the most likely to have to do business with them ( I'll bet that not many on this forum have a cash store at their bus stop). And the providers can pretty much do what they want with a minimum of effective government interference.

Phones are another type of industry that camouflages your losses with their "plans." When I am in Europe, I have an unlocked phone, a sim to stick in my phone, buy some minutes and data (more when I run out (it takes a very long time of inactivity for unused minutes to expire), and know exactly what I pay for, interest free. To my knowledge, such plans do not exist here in that very simple form.

But, of course, none of this is illegal. So it is buyer beware, it is a jungle out there.

[Kiwi_Roy]

I operated without a card until I started traveling for business

Try getting a rental car or booking a hotel or a flight in a foreign country without one.

It's also not possible to pay off your balance from overseas, i just put in an expense report ASAP and pay it straight off Visa.

[Orange Guzzi]

What is a credit card?    I do have a debit/credit card with Chase. 36.?? something rate.  I have never used  it.  Unbelievable that a bank can make such excessive profits.  Paying less  than 1/2% interest on their capital and then selling at 72 times cost?   What other business can get away with this?  The overhead on the capital is very small.  Not like manufacturing or retail.

[sib]

yet how much do you blow on that iPhone per year? $1,200. 

Well, I just bought a new iPhone SE 64GB for $533.93, at my local Apple Store, including sales tax, unlocked and with no contract.  However, I paid for it with a new Chase Freedom Visa credit card that offered $150 cash back if I spend $500 within 3 months, plus $25 more if I get another person on the account (my wife), plus 1.5% cash back on all purchases.  So, I paid a net of $533.95 - $150 -$75 - 0.015 x $533.93 = $350.92.  I don't plan to use this card again since I have another card that gives back 2% on all purchases (it's a no-fee card, as are all of my cards).  Moreover, I sold my old iPhone 5 on Craigslist for $175, so the new phone only cost me $350.92 - $175 = $175.92.  I consider that to be a good deal.

[yogidozer]

never notice the interest rate, I pay the balance when due

[Triple Jim]

No interest, no late fees.  Just their yearly fee.

It seems like you need to find a card that doesn't have a yearly fee.  I don't pay any.

[Lcarlson]

The CC companies have a name for those of us who pay their balances in full every month. They call us "deadbeats".

[LowRyter]

This time I think it has to do with printing too many dollar bills with nothing to back them up.

Hardly the case.  Govt treasuries are < 1%.

The banks are getting away with it because the debtors are trapped and usury laws were gutted 30 years ago.   it's no more than treasuries having a bearing on your local loan shark.

(The topic was brought up and it's been answered.   Academic, not political answer.)

[LowRyter]

About those cash back cards , someone is taking a beating , no such thing as free money .

 Dusty

I've been using 1% back Discover card for 25 years (since it was part of Sears).  I only use cash when forced to.

[LowRyter]

The CC companies have a name for those of us who pay their balances in full every month. They call us "deadbeats".

My wife's credit score is perfect and mine is 2 pts under her's.  I guess they know she pays all the bills and I just ask "what?"

[pete roper]

I operated without a card until I started traveling for business

Try getting a rental car or booking a hotel or a flight in a foreign country without one.

It's also not possible to pay off your balance from overseas, i just put in an expense report ASAP and pay it straight off Visa.

Really?

The only 'Credit' card we have is an AMEX which is a charge card so we have to pay it off every month or they get crappy. We just look up the balance in line and pay it off though our banking app. Nothing could be simpler.

As for other cards? We have Visa debit cards linked directly to our current account. They work pretty much everywhere apart from some odd places in the US! this trip we're also using a pre-loaded cash card that is issued through MasterCard. We loaded it up with Sterling after Brexit. That was a good move.

Really though, credit card charges are usurious. Luckily we haven't used credit apart from for a mortgage since the early nineties. What scares me is kids who are in hock to cards up to their eyeballs and people our age who seem determined to leave their children nothing but debt!

Pete

[travelingbyguzzi]

I use cash for day to day expenses. Use a credit card for traveling. I pay it off every month.
I borrowed money for a vehicle way back in 1995. Borrowed money for my house in 1994.   Casual debt is a sure way to stay poor.
People in the U.S. like to complain about how poor they are, but most of us have much, much more than our grandparents. Multiple tvs, much larger homes (tho smaller yards) more vehicles than adults per home, computers, cell phones, and lots of debt because of the desire for instant gratification.
Whew!

Bill Lovelady    IS
Eskimo Spy

[oldbike54]

 Testify Bill 

 Dusty