The credit card companies and banks lower your cap you can borrow inorder to place you in a higher bracket on your card. The credit card companies and banks then raise the rate they charge because you are over your limit. If one has been laid off then it makes it even harder to pay your cards off. The companies have even raised the minimum payment to make it harder but easier for them to raise your interest rate. We just love the bail out plan for the Banks and credit card companies.

I've had the same trouble with the lack of business ethics of "Sillybank" too. I made purchase of  $2000. I sent in the full payment about 6-7 business days before it was due. The following month I received a statement with a balance due for a late fee and full interest on the balance of the $2000. The rep at "SillyBank" claimed the payment was received the day after the due date! Is this organized loan sharking or what? After paying the $48, I quickly severed my business relationship with "Sillybank". Wells Fargo now has my business and they have been great since.

Obama people.  This is an early test.  Do something about these credit card gougers.  Democrats have control, do they have the nerve.

Dear Citibank,  as a cardholder since 1992, I am very upset at you unilaterally deciding to raise my rate to 24.99% on purchases.    This is bad business.  I won't close the card, since to do so would lower my available credit, and thus lower my credit score.    What I will do is cease to use the card,  except maybe once a year or so to keep it active.

P.S.     since you've shown that you cannot or will not keep your word, I as an american taxpayer, am unilaterally increasing the rate you pay on your "bailout loans"   You have the right to opt out, just pay us back the money you owe us and go scr?w yourselves.

It's just like the housing credit market.  Lure you in with low rates with a monthly payment rate that you can live with, then increase the rates to a degree that you can only afford to pay the interest and a little of the principal or they jack up the minimum payment due that is totally out of your budget.  Therefore you stay in debt longer, if not forever, paying much more in interest than you wanted to when you first were given the card.  If the lawmakers want to help us out, they need to step in and put a ceiling on the rates credit cards can charge consumers.  With the outrageous late fees and overlimit fees that they are charging, they don't need to increase the rates in the first place.

Exactly, Aaron. Who cares what the rate is if you pay in full every month. If it makes it easier for some of you, pretend it's a debit card and subtract the purchases out of your bank account as you make them. Then at the end of the month, you can add them up and they should match your credit card bill. Just don't forget to pay that bill.

The only reason to use credit cards like that is for the perks they offer b/c carry any balance and you just covered the entire cost of your perks ten times over.

THIS IS A CATCH 22. IF YOU DECIDE TO CLOSE YOUR ACCOUNT THAT YOU HAD FOR A LONG TIME YOUR CREDIT SCORE WILL GO DOWN AND THAT IS WHAT THE BANKS WANT BECAUSE THEY KNOW HOW CREDIT SCORES WORK IF YOU CLOSE YOUR ACCT YOUR SCORE WILL DROP SO THEN THEY CAN CHARGE YOU HIGHER RATES ON DIFFERENT LOANS.THE GOVT NEEDS TO PASS THE BILL TO STOP THIS.IF THIS IS NOT CONCLUSION I DON,T KNOW WHAT IS.

I think I am surprised that anyone is actually surpised by this news!  Really!  They have fed from the government trough, will feed again from the government trough and they clearly spell the word customer as S U C K E R.  Most likely, this failure to live up to their pledge to Congress is likely just a practice run for all of the other failures to live up to pledges to Congress that they have in the works.  They want to see how the Congress will react to their breech and it is pretty clear that the word react in this case describes the wink - smile - wink that Congress will use to admonish their friends in the banks.  Maybe the federal bailout funds should come with an invasion of the corporate HQ by National Guard troops, so long as we are federalizing everything anyway.

I called to opt out  . . . my rate would go to 19.99 . . . and the guy at Citi told me I could transfer any OTHER credit card balance to Citi for 6.99% (this rate is good till 12/09).  Was this written in stone?  Would Citi turn around and decide to up the % on balance transfers?  He could not say.

To all of you who tout that you ALWAYS pay in full and on time . . . I hope nothing traumatic ever happens to you . . .

All this is going to do is cause more people to file bankruptcy, they will not be able to make the payments. There are going to be mass layoffs in 09, more foreclosures, more bankruptcies. Get use to it, we are in a deep eceonomic downturn that may not turn back around for the good. I think the US along with other countries are headed for total economic collapse.