Credit Card Companies to recoup dollars from folks who pay off their bills.

[dude1394]

This will be interesting. So the credit card companies get 3-5% on every purchase but o' woe is me, that's not enough since they can no longer screw over any and everyone. So they'll now "stop the free ride" from those who pay off their bills monthly. Boy they are dumber than I thought if they think that's going to work.

First -- To heck with it, get a debit card.
Second -- Go back to writing a check.

Then their percentages go down from all of the stuff that those folks have been buying on their card. Really smart there budda'..
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/19/bu...er=rss&emc=rss

Credit Card Industry Aims to Profit from Sterling Payers
Published: May 18, 2009
Credit cards have long been a very good deal for people who pay their bills on time and in full. Even as card companies imposed punitive fees and penalties on those late with their payments, the best customers racked up cash-back rewards, frequent-flier miles and other perks in recent years.



Now Congress is moving to limit the penalties on riskier borrowers, who have become a prime source of billions of dollars in fee revenue for the industry. And to make up for lost income, the card companies are going after those people with sterling credit.


Banks are expected to look at reviving annual fees, curtailing cash-back and other rewards programs and charging interest immediately on a purchase instead of allowing a grace period of weeks, according to bank officials and trade groups.


“It will be a different business,” said Edward L. Yingling, the chief executive of the American Bankers Association, which has been lobbying Congress for more lenient legislation on behalf of the nation’s biggest banks. “Those that manage their credit well will in some degree subsidize those that have credit problems.”


As they thin their ranks of risky cardholders to deal with an economic downturn, major banks including American Express, Citigroup, Bank of America and a long list of others have already begun to raise interest rates, and some have set their sights on consumers who pay their bills on time. The legislation scheduled for a Senate vote on Tuesday does not cap interest rates, so banks can continue to lift them, albeit at a slower pace and with greater disclosure.