CREDIT CARDS COMPANIES ARE NOT BAD!!

CREDIT CARDS COMPANIES ARE NOT BAD!! The people who abuse credit cards are bad! Let’s pretend you owned a store. You sold a product that people paid for. But some people who came into your store did not pay for your product, they stole it. Because, as the store owner, you had to be able to cover the loss of the thefts, you raised the price of your product. If customers did not like your higher prices, they could shop elsewhere. That is essentially the simple scenario for credit card companies. The credit card companies suffer billions of dollars in losses from both unpaid bills and theft. These companies have the right to charge a fee to customers for the use of their product. These companies have a right to charge interest rates if their customers do not pay their monthly bills. Nobody is holding a gun to the head of the credit card customer and telling them to ring up charges they cannot afford to pay. When a customer willingly makes charges and does not pay the bill, that is theft. It is a theft that essentially costs the good customers because the credit card companies have to be able to cover the losses. People should not be mad at credit card companies for the interest rates or the payment of a yearly fee, they should be mad at the consumers who do NOT pay their bills. It is the non-paying credit card customers that cost the rest of us money. One of the ways to solve the problem of high interest rate on credit cards is to lower the amount of credit an individual is allowed to have and to prevent a person from continuing to use their credit card when all they are doing is making a minimum monthly payment. If someone is only making the minimum payment, you already know they are in financial trouble, so cut them off. Instead Congress has the hubris to blame the credit card companies for the problems created by their users and they pass a bill limiting the rights of the credit card companies! Senator Richard Shelby, with solemn gravitas said, “Card issuers raise rates for unclear reasons, (KP question: Why does any company have to give a reason for raising their rates? Grocery stores change their prices every day) use billing methods that consumers do not understand, (KP statement: If the consumer is that stupid they should not have been issued a card to start with) and assign fees and charges without warning.” (KP statement: If you don’t like the business practices of a particular company, switch your credit card use.) The simple bottom line here for consumers is to not purchase items they cannot afford and pay your bill every month. This is not rocket science and even if you have a high enough line of credit and the ability to shop, doesn’t mean you should buy your own spaceship!