NEW YORK (CNN) — We’re a little over a month away from sweeping credit card reform. Credit card issuers have been preparing for the loss of revenue by introducing new fees and policies. Not satisfied with charging “inactivity” fees to cardholders who don’t use their credit cards, banks are now charging fees to people who don’t even HAVE a credit card.
More Fees
Here’s what’s going on: For months, issuers have raised credit card rates to usurious levels and added fees at a dizzying pace. Having bled their cardholders dry, a growing number are starting to tack on new card fees for non-cardholders.
In June, First Second Bank began charging non-cardholders a $19 fee for not having a First Second credit card. There are also variations on this non-cardholder fee, such as “quasi-non-cardholder” fees. Citigreed has a policy where if it’s more likely that a non-cardholder will apply for a card within the next 6 months — which is determined by guessing — they will be charged a “potential cardholder” fee up to $90, as well as a $39 pre-application fee.
Bill Owen, who is not currently a Citigreed cardholder, recently received a $129 bill from Citigreed. “I never even signed up for a credit card with them, and now they’re sending me a bill,” said Owen. “And they even said they’ll charge me a late fee if I don’t pay within 15 days. How is that fair? I didn’t even BUY anything!” Concerned with a possible negative effect on his credit rating, Owen plans to pay the bill immediately despite his outrage.
Bank of Americans will start experimenting with new non-cardholder annual fees from $29 – $99, which will be charged to people randomly selected from telephone directories and voter registration lists. Citigreed now has a policy where credit card non-holders who pay late must pay a reinstatement fee in order to redeem accumulated rewards points, and may be physically harmed. And you may be charged for eating, drinking, sleeping, going to the bathroom — even for breathing. For simply existing.
Consumers Beware
Read every letter that comes from a credit card issuer! These changes may come buried in fine print. Experts we talk to say that you may be receiving a lot of promotional APR deals, as well as death threats. These promotional offers will lure you in with low rates for a limited amount of time, and your family members will be threatened. But then, at the end of the promotional period, you may be subject to an interest rate that’s much higher than the original offer, and your family members will be killed anyway. The takeaway here is before you sign up for a promotional card, make sure you can pay off your balance in full before the intial offer expires, and be prepared for the loss of your entire family.
Pay Up — Or Else
Vic Dim recently received a credit card offer from Citigreed that included a “mandatory acceptance” clause. “It said that if I didn’t accept the offer, I could get seriously hurt,” said Dim. “I thought it was some kind of a joke, so I just threw it away. But a couple of days later, these two huge Citigreed customer service reps came to my apartment and beat the living crap out of me.” Dim said that the customer service representatives then took $129 dollars from his wallet to cover a “card activation” fee, and warned him “not to let anything like this happen again.” Dim was later transported the hospital, where he accrued ambulance and emergency room treatment fees totalling $1987. “But I did earn 50 rewards points,” said Dim.
