The Wall Street Journal reports:

In some cases, banks’ former darlings — consumers who paid consistently and on time but let their balances ride — now are being hit hardest, asked to stomach higher interest rates and fees or try their luck with different card issuers.

This story is becoming all too common.  Credit card companies are looking at the numbers from Wall Street, the rising number of people without work and getting worried that people will begin to rely too heavily on the credit they’ve extended and be unable to pay it back.  This applies even to good customers, ones that have been paying more than the minimum every month.  The government isn’t the only entity that can limit credit options and with the policy actions we’ve seen against payday lending across the country, combined with more stringent requirements for long term loans and credit card companies reeling it in, consumers are going to find it more difficult to get credit when they need it most.

Wow!  According to Businessweek: 

For consumers reeling from a series of economic body blows, debit cards are increasingly becoming the plastic of choice. Some use the cards, which pull money directly from a bank or other account, as a budgeting tool to limit spending. Others are embracing them out of necessity as banks clamp down on credit. All told, debit purchases are expected to climb 13% in 2008, to $1.2 trillion, according to The Nilson Report, an industry newsletter—compared with a 3% rise, to $1.9 trillion, for credit-card transactions.

Come to think of it, the Payday Pundit used his debit card more than his credit card.

This story discusses how for 50 million Americans, credit cards are getting more costly and harder to use.

TIME magazine reports that the credit crunch is moving from Wall Street to Main Street, so this pundit wants to know, how is it affecting you, loyal reader?  Do you live in a state that already limits payday lending or in Ohio, Arizona, Illinois or other city that is considering new regulations?  Do you use payday loans or do you just like having the option if you needed it? 

Eventually you have to pay back what you borrow and most of the time paying back includes a fee for the privilege of spending someone else’s money, be it an upfront fee like a payday loan or an interest based fee like a credit card.  In the last few years it seems like consumers and banks alike have forgotten this, leaving us in the situation we are now.

Now, after giving people more free credit than they ever needed (this pundit still gets 4 card offers a week), the credit card companies are reminding their clients to “use it responsibly“…a little to late, guys.

An interesting piece on Customer Service Agents at credit card companies is up on CNN.com right now.

These former CSA’s allege that they were told to push people to take out more credit than they needed and rushed through the details.

CFSA member companies are required to post in large print and explain to customers the terms of each loan they make.  Why aren’t credit card companies held to more stringent measures?  Afterall, credit history is becoming more and more important in the US.

What if you don’t have either until payday?  This is where a payday loan would come in handy, but the Fond du Lac Reporter doesn’t even see it as an option.

If your credit is poor and you can’t get a credit card and you rely on debit you can quickly get into trouble

Today, most banks will approve even the smallest debit card purchase — then hit you with a fee of $35 or more.

Yet we don’t hear howling about that kind of predatory lending….

Bankrate has a great calculator to help you figure out what you end up paying if you pay only your minimum credit card payment each month.