“There will be one-size-fits-all pricing, and as a result, you’ll see the industry will be more egalitarian in terms of its revenue base,” said David Robertson, publisher of the Nilson Report, which tracks the credit card business.First off, nobody put a gun to the head of the credit card companies to offer this "great deal". Second, any anyone who has ever had any involvement in a retail business will tell you, credit cards are not "free." The merchant pays a fee for credit card transactions.
People who routinely pay off their credit card balances have been enjoying the equivalent of a free ride, he said, because many have not had to pay an annual fee even as they collect points for air travel and other perks.
“Despite all the terrible things that have been said, you’re making out like a bandit,” he said. “That’s a third of credit card customers, 50 million people who have gotten a great deal.”
But the biggest thing is that the credit card companies could easily have structured their plans differently. They didn't. They chose to set up a system where if you got into trouble, they would grab onto your ankles, pull you down and drown you. That lasted only for so long as our government did a "Justice Roberts" and sided with the powerful over the powerless, which is why they could get away with 30% interest rates.
But now that the credit card companies are being reined in by a government that actually occasionally gives a shit about working people, they are squealing about how unfair it is that they won't be permitted to retroactively increase interest rates or sneak changes in by sending notices in 2-point type.
Fuck them.
For a while, my bank charged an annual fee for a credit card. Eventually, they decided to do things as they are now. It's much more profitable to suck people in, and then screw the living daylights out of them.
ReplyDeleteThey have only themselves, and their greed, to blame.