Credit Card Companies Become More Transparent
Filed Under (Credit Cards Blog) by creditblogger on 10-09-2008
One thing that you may have missed recently is the push that is coming from the government and consumer advocates for credit card companies to be more transparent on the fees and limitations that they put on their cards. We have recently received numerous e-mails from credit card companies to update the information that we display on our site about their credit cards. Surprisingly, most of these suggested changes are about enclosing more fees and limitations that come with each card.
There is no question that credit card companies have gotten away with a lot of things by disclosing as little as possible about their card fees and limitations. For instance, companies used to claim that you would get 5% cash back on all your purchases with their cards. But if you missed the fine print, you would miss the fact that you would get only 5% on your first $1,000, and after that you will be entitled to only 1% cash back. That approach used to fly a couple of years ago, but now I have seen more companies disclosing that fact on the applications.
While credit card companies can be accused of using deceptive practices to attract more customers, you should always to your due diligent and find out about the credit card limits and fees by reading the terms and conditions. You should also print your terms and conditions when you apply for the card to make sure you have evidence that you can use against credit card companies if they go against their agreements.
These are tough times. For you and I, and for credit card companies. I don’t blame credit card companies for trying to maximize their profit, but their approach has been deceptive. Having said that, the consumers should also be responsible enough to dig and research before applying for a consumer credit card. That way, you don’t have to leave anything to chance.
