Squeezing more people
July 1, 2009 | alternatives, industry | Comments (1)Chase is raising its minimum credit card payment. From the story:
Chase is increasing the minimum payment on some credit card accounts from 2 percent of the balance to 5 percent. This angers cardholder Sonja Young of Portland who says the move will hurt people on tight budgets. But it’s also potentially a good thing. One industry analyst explains why Chase is doing it.
Chase spokeswoman Stephanie Jacobson said the increase takes effect August 2009 on “select accounts that have carried balances.” It boosted the payment, in part, to “protect our customers and our company.”
Like anything else, it will have good and bad effects. On one hand, consumers will be more squeezed during this crunch, on the other hand, they will be forced to pay their credit card down quicker.
Comments»
I’m sure their terms and conditions allows them to do that but I wonder how prominently that was displayed to people applying for the card. Could they start to require that 95% of the balance be repaid?
I think we do need strong regulation to ensure that major provisions of contracts, such as this, are clearly understood by those entering into them.