- Sep 29, 2000
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We already know that Citi, for one, has been tightening the reigns a great deal. I saw my APR inexplicably almost double on a card I've never carried any real balance on and I have wicked credit. We should all realize by now that if one carries a balance with a lender, that balance can at any time be jacked up to whatever the heck they want if you so much as let off a bad fart. I do think that if you're current and never miss a payment they have to allow you to keep your rate where it is until the card expires (at which point you'll have to close it)--at least that's what Citi offered me, but I don't know if this is because they're "nice" or legally have to, and for many people it's not like they can pay it off or move to another low rate card anyway, so the hens are coming home to roost on those people.
In any case, credit card debt has gone up considerably in the past year or two. A lot more consumers will be squeezed as their lines are pulled down to their current balance or taken away entirely.
"In other words, we expect available consumer liquidity in the form of credit-card lines to decline by 45 percent."
We already know that Citi, for one, has been tightening the reigns a great deal. I saw my APR inexplicably almost double on a card I've never carried any real balance on and I have wicked credit. We should all realize by now that if one carries a balance with a lender, that balance can at any time be jacked up to whatever the heck they want if you so much as let off a bad fart. I do think that if you're current and never miss a payment they have to allow you to keep your rate where it is until the card expires (at which point you'll have to close it)--at least that's what Citi offered me, but I don't know if this is because they're "nice" or legally have to, and for many people it's not like they can pay it off or move to another low rate card anyway, so the hens are coming home to roost on those people.
In any case, credit card debt has gone up considerably in the past year or two. A lot more consumers will be squeezed as their lines are pulled down to their current balance or taken away entirely.