A Sea Of Red

http://reason.com/blog/2010/02/22/today ... day-of-the

One of the latest is an "inactivity fee"....[a charge] if you don't use your bank credit card within 12 months....

Beginning April 1, Citigroup will assess cardholders a $60 annual fee if they charge less than $2,400 a year. "This action is necessary given the increasing costs of doing business," Citi spokesman Robert Julavits said.

The nation's second-largest card issuer, Bank of America, just began testing an annual fee for some of its credit card accounts.

The fees are part of a menu of little-known charges that card issuers use. In recent months, some have upped the fees for transferring balances. Some have added a minimum charge for cash advances, meaning a $50 advance on the credit card could cost the unwitting consumer $10 or more in fees.

Some are charging a dollar a month to customers who still want to get an account statement in the mail.

All this pretty much sucks, but it's leaving the door wide open for an alternative to emerge and replace all these dinosaur banks. That is, if a free market still exists to allow it to happen.

ALUmnus wrote:All this pretty much sucks, but it's leaving the door wide open for an alternative to emerge and replace all these dinosaur banks. That is, if a free market still exists to allow it to happen.

I don't care if they do it, but I probably have 4-5 credit cards under my name that I never use. I would get the 20% off your purchase deal, or some kind of incentive to open up a credit card with them. I've never used them since, so I'm kinda worried that I will have these $60 (or any amount) fees coming in the mail for all these cards I didn't even remember having. I really need to go and cancel them anyway, so maybe this will be the incentive to do so!!

I'm in the same situation. Like 90% of LU freshman, I filled out the paperwork for the guy standing in front of the marriot because I got some free sunglasses and shirts. That apparently signed me up for like 5 credit cards that I've never even seen or activated. I used to see them on my credit report but I think they've lapsed due to inactivity. I guess a card getting canceled due to inactivity won't happen anymore either. This is going to make managing your credit score A LOT harder. It was good to have credit cards you didn't use because you had access to that line of credit, therefore your score increased. Now, if you want that same benefit, you're going to have to occasionally remember to use them so that you still have them yet not get charged for not using them. What a pain in the butt. It might be better to just let your score take the hit by cancelling them so that it doesn't take an even bigger hit in the future when you've got inactivity bills going to collections because you never knew you had them.

i always used fake info to get that stuff....they always asked to chekc my id but i told them i didn't have it one me.

Hmm, I opened an account with Citi just so my friend could get $100 taken off his bill and it never cost me anything and I've never used it. Time to close it.

From what I've heard recently, if you get charged an "inactivity fee" or something similar, you can cancel the card before that payment is due without paying anything. Just make sure you are watching your bills closely!!

Honestly, one thing I'd like to see is for them (whoever "them" is) to revise how your credit score is calculated. There are too many ways to manipulate your score that really doesn't change your credit-worthiness. And I hate the fact that we're all chained to this number out there that someone else decides on. Look at my assets, earnings, and liabilities, that should be good enough for you to make a reasonable decision.

The problem with cancelling cards to avoid paying fees is that cancelling a card counts against your credit rating, no matter how much sense it makes. If you are about to buy a house, for instance, and your rating can impact the interest on your mortgage, you want to stand pat on what you have and not cancel any accounts or open new ones.

olldflame wrote:The problem with cancelling cards to avoid paying fees is that cancelling a card counts against your credit rating, no matter how much sense it makes. If you are about to buy a house, for instance, and your rating can impact the interest on your mortgage, you want to stand pat on what you have and not cancel any accounts or open new ones.

Fortunately I already bought a house, sooo...time to cancel, and eventually the score will rebound.

olldflame wrote:The problem with cancelling cards to avoid paying fees is that cancelling a card counts against your credit rating, no matter how much sense it makes. If you are about to buy a house, for instance, and your rating can impact the interest on your mortgage, you want to stand pat on what you have and not cancel any accounts or open new ones.

I will buy a house in the next 3 months, so I definitely will have to be careful!!