Recently Congress decided that credit card companies were taking advantage of their customers. As a result, Congress passed new regulations pertaining to the credit card industry. However, the credit card companies cried that they “needed time to prepare their systems” for the new changes. They were given 10 months to get ready and then the new rules would take effect. Now what in the hell did Congress think was going to happen during this grace period? Did they think that the credit card companies really needed time to prepare their systems?
Well, this is an example of what is really happening. Citibank sent a letter recently saying that in order to continue offering credit card services, they were INREASING the interest rate on all cards to 29.99%. WTF? This is preparing their systems for the changes? Well of course it is! They are adjusting the terms for accounts BEFORE they have to start abiding by the terms that Congress has laid out for them. In other words, Congress got played by the credit card industry.
Oh, I did forget to mention that Citibank has a rebate program for interest. If you pay on time every month, then you can get 10% of the interest paid back as a rebate to your account. What a deal! Do the math on that one. You pay 29.99% interest on the money you owe. Then they will give you back 10% of what you paid. When you are doing the calculations on that, remember that credit card companies NEVER let things work to your advantage.
