What is in your wallet? If it is one of today’s credit cards you better beware! Don’t be surprised if after years of faithful payments and never being late you get a letter in the mail that goes something like this:
Dear Miss xxxxxxxxxx,
We very much appreciate you letting us fill your credit needs, but upon careful review of your credit report it is our obligation to inform you that your annual percentage rate has increased by 3%.
They will try and convince you that every credit card company is doing it, but they are not. You need to call upon your credit card customer service and see if they follow this practice or not. If they don’t, good for you, but if they are going to raise your rates say goodbye, close the account and continue to pay on the balance until it hits a zero balance, get out before they raise your rates and you end up in the viscous circle that they are forming for many clients, that have been with them for years.
This is not the way that a good paying customer should be treated, you should be rewarded for you for your years of being a good customer, not punished. You have the power to say enough is enough! So, do it.
Well, unfortunatley, this also occurs with car insurance companies among other things.
After staying with Alstate for many years, I found out the hard way that being a faithful customer means little.. After shopping around.. I was amazed!! I saved 30 percent when I dropped them like a hot potato. And I never regretted losing them.
So, if I shop around, I will normally find a better deal. And, credit cards are no different.