Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << Credit unions? >> You know, I've often wondered how big banks like Bank of America and Citi attract any consumers at all given the proliferation of low-cost, consumer oriented credit unions. It's not very hard to become a member of a credit union these days, and they offer essentially all of the same services of the big banks with generally lower costs. Why do people still stick with the corporate banks? Are people just dumb?
Originally Posted By alexbook >>I really wish there would be a bank that came out that their business model were based on supporting the common man. Provided they were thorough in their vetting, they would get a lot of business I suspect.<< I think a lot of businesses start out that way. It could be that the sheer size of the banks is at least partly responsible for their indifference to morality. What's the British equivalent of a credit union? They seem to do a good job in the U.S. One big problem is the lack of information. All most people know is what they see in the ads, and the bigger the bank, the more ads. There's no simple way to comparison-shop for credit.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo We have Co-ops and Building Societies, but most of them run like big business too.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy Just to add to my post #21 -- most of our credit unions don't run much different from the big banks, either. There are certainly some that stand out, though.
Originally Posted By alexbook I do think that size matters a lot. If you're one of hundreds or thousands of customers of a business, your well-being matters more to the people who run that business than if you're one of millions of customers.
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<RE-AFFIRMING MY TITLE AS KING OF THE TYPOS!>> I'll erm wrestle yu fir it.
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>>>I really wish there would be a bank that came out that their business model were based on supporting the common man.<< Credit unions?<< Absolutely. We've been with our credit union for over 15 years. I'll never go back to a bank!
Originally Posted By skinnerbox <<Absolutely. We've been with our credit union for over 15 years. I'll never go back to a bank!>> Agreed. I've been with my credit union for over two decades. Back in the early nineties, I took out an auto loan for almost 2% less than what local banks were offering, or GM financing. I've been quite satisfied with the service from my credit union, one of the largest in the nation. Now, fast forward from my car loan over 15 years ago, to this past August. I received a letter from the credit union that my VISA will no longer be affiliated with the credit union, that the partnership with the card company is being dissolved. WTF??? Behaviorally, nothing has really changed. The account remains, the spending limit, payments made online, etc. But now that my credit union is no longer "partnered" with the credit card company, that leaves the card company free to do whatever it damn well pleases, like jack up interest rates. I haven't received a rate hike yet, but I expect one any day now.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << But now that my credit union is no longer "partnered" with the credit card company, that leaves the card company free to do whatever it damn well pleases, like jack up interest rates. >> The credit card companies don't act independently. The card you have is now being serviced by another bank somewhere. It's not the card company that determines the rate.
Originally Posted By utahjosh It is a horrible, dishonorable way to run a business. Those credit card companies are evil. Capitalism is good, but greed and evil policies suck. Luckily I haven't paid a dime of interest to a credit card company. But I do enjoy my Disney Visa Reward Dollars. Luckily i've always been able to pay it off.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 Wait until the banks realize people are doing this and start charging 20% interest from the moment the purchase is made....
Originally Posted By Mr X That'll be the day I close all my credit card accounts (oh, I'll probably keep one for reserving hotels and cars, but never use it for payments).
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder That's what I don't get. Once all this is over and all the debts are paid, if Amex, FIA Card Services, Chase, et al think I'm ever using one of their cards again they're crazy. I know there are many, many people with the same idea. The credit card companies/banks can go to hell and die for all I care. Fool me once, shame on me and all that.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 I am hoping America learns a valuable lesson from this and we start only making purchases we can afford....
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy ^^ Be careful what you wish for . . . the entire economy is based on credit. I can't imagine how much GDP would fall if people decided to stop charging.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox <<I am hoping America learns a valuable lesson from this and we start only making purchases we can afford....>> So you're advocating that uninsured adults should let a ruptured appendix or blocked bile duct from gallstones take them or their minor children, instead of putting the emergency surgery on their credit cards to save their lives? Because that is the number one leading cause of credit card debt in this nation, followed closely by paying for groceries with credit when the main breadwinner loses his/her job and that's the only way to keep from dying of malnutrition. Most of the nation's credit card debt was NOT incurred by frivolous purchases for luxury items such as iPods and Disney vacations. But go ahead and believe whatever makes you feel better about the destruction of America at the hands of the Democrats.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip No offense, but if the interest rate change alone resulted in a $210 a month increase in your minimum payment, you have WAY TOO MUCH debt on your plastic. In this economy, I can understand why the credit card company would be concerned and want to increase your rate. With that kind of payment increase you must have more than $20K on that card alone. If you have additional unsecured debt the increase is entirely understandable unless you have an income in the mid-six-figure range.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << In this economy, I can understand why the credit card company would be concerned and want to increase your rate. >> The only reason the banks are doing this is because credit card defaults are increasing rapidly with the spread of unemployment. Most banks are trying to make up the lost card revenue with fees. In other words, the people who pay on time are propping up the balance sheet for the people who have stopped paying. It's a game of musical chairs because the fee scheme can't possibly keep up with the lost card revenue indefinitely. The banks are just trying to push that inevitable fact out a few more months while they try to prop their already deflated stock prices up.
Originally Posted By Mr X Deflated? Are you crazy!? Citibank alone is up almost 400% in recent months! (I told you guys to invest when it was $1 per share!)
