Credit Card Minimum Payments Set to Rise

[Honeykiss1974]

Just an FYI for those of you paying just the minimum balance.

New Rules Will Double Typical Monthly Minimums -- Is It Good News for Consumers?

July 20, 2005 — More than 115 million Americans carry monthly credit card debt. And if you're among those paying off a high balance, you may have an unpleasant surprise in next month's bill: a higher minimum payment.

"Good Morning America" Financial Correspondent Mellody Hobson discussed why payments are going up and what you can do about it.

Watchdog Group Cracking Down on Companies

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department as well as a watchdog to protect consumers from abusive and deceptive credit card practices, is cracking down with tougher guidelines on interest rates, marketing tactics and account management practices. According to BusinessWeek, credit card companies had a banner year in 2004, bringing in record profits of $30 billion, in large part due to fees and high balances.

In response to the OCC's call to credit card issuers to help their customers get out from the layers of debt, many national banks and credit card issuers are increasing their monthly payment requirements. For the millions of Americans struggling to pay off their credit cards, the mandated jump in monthly minimum payments may seem a bitter pill to swallow.



Read It All Here

[jubilance1922]

I am SOOO glad I just paid off my last credit card. Those things are the devil.

[Honeykiss1974]

Originally posted by jubilance1922
I am SOOO glad I just paid off my last credit card. Those things are the devil.

You and me both.

Financial slavery, I tell ya.

[valkyrie]

Hurry up and file bankruptcy before the new law goes into effect!

[33girl]

This is great. Frontline had a show on credit cards this past year that showed how the monthly minimums have decreased over the years - mainly to the CC companies' benefit, since lots of people only pay the minimum month after month.

[Tom Earp]

Screw Them, Oh CC Companies. They are reaping Benefis from Interest Rates to be sure!

Pay off Balance and They wont make a Damn Dime Off of You. But some are now saying "WELL" since You are paying off Monthly Balance, We will no longer carry You as a Member!

Ask Me, I pay $271.00 + Monthly to have a Machine to run cards and checks.

Then, it costs me a swipe Fee .55 , and Then a % from each card Company to have them available.

Damn, I am a small business, Not Daddy Warbucks!

[Munchkin03]

Seriously, are there people who just pay the minimum balance? Even in the brokest of my broke college student days, I knew better than not to pay just the minimum. If you look at how they calculate the payment--it's merely a few cents more than the total interest charged.

Reason #34792 that there should be a mandatory credit and debt education class for college freshmen.

[WCUgirl]

I think, for a lot of people, they know not to just pay the minimum, but they can barely eat let alone pay more than the minimum balance on their credit cards. These are also the people who have multiple cards, usually b/c they've transferred their balance from card to card since they don't have the money to pay it off.

[aggieAXO]

I usually just pay the minimum balance, but then again I never pay interest.