How Chase gets customers to pay higher interest rates
Let’s say you are a big thoughtless bank and you some customers you inherited from other banks you stole bought, but those customers have a great deal in a low-interest-for-life loan that other banks offered as a promotion, either for a big purchase, or a balance transfer from another credit card. Your problem is you want them to be paying a higher interest rate, but these are good customers with good credit scores who are paying on time. Hmm, what to do.
Wait, I’ve got it! Let’s increase their minimum payment, either forcing them to default on their loan, which allows us to increase their interest rate to something nearly illegal, or force them to agree to a higher rate in exchange for lower payments.
If you think this way, that might make you Chase bank. Full story below.
My credit has always been quite excellent, I have never defaulted on any credit or loan. My score is well into the upper 700 range. Chase has tried to screw me several times in the pass by jacking up my interest rate within just one statement period. Worse case. From 8.98% to 29.99% in just one month. I should have learned my lesson back then. But my personal checking was with BANK ONE(now CHASE) just down the street and I know the tellers and branch manger on a personal level.
HOWEVER! The final straw!
My story: Last February or so, I took one of their “Offers” 3.99% for the life of the balance. I needed a new furnace and windows so I used just over $20,000.00. My Credit limit was also raised to around $26,000.00 during this “special offer”. I paid the 3% upfront fee and continued to make not only the min due, but pay as much extra as my monthly budget would allow. Min payment due was around $400.00
NOW HERE is the reason CHASE_SUCKS. I get my September statement. My min payment due went up to almost $1,100.00! I checked my previous statements for any warning or info about this. NONE! I called and was told that I was sent a letter about 45 days ago outlining the reason for this. After explaining to them that I am not able to shit or grow an extra $700.00 every month. I am a single parent trying to raise my daughter with no help from her mother or anyone else for that matter and the two jobs I currently have just doesn’t leave room for much else. I ask what would happen if I cant make the min. due. You guessed it. “Default account! All kinds of Fees and charges. Current rate will rise to the now default rate on 27.9%”. When I asked about our agreement and the 3.99% offer. The manager stated. “it was a business decision on our part to HELP you pay off you account sooner, as well, we are allowed by law to make changes to our offers and account terms by sending you a 45 day notice”. So in other words, Because greedy chase is not making enough money off of me, they use some loop hole to increase my min due to an impossible amount so my perfect credit history gets trashed, so CHASE can rack up my interest rate and RENEGE on THEIR own offer.
I believe CHASE wants us to default and fail, so they cant continue to receive more government money, blame their problems and their own miss management on us the consumers, so as to keep their multi million dollar paychecks and mansions. All I can figure out in this whole mess; Is that the “powers to be” must really want Anarchy.
Bad bad Chase, Fees & charges | admin July 13, 2010
