Percents and Sensibility
Yesterday a Vietnamese American friend of mine came over to have me help her deal with a problem regarding her Citibank Mastercard. She has had the card for 14 years, has never been late on any payment, and has paid off her entire bill each and every month. She had received an insert in her monthly bill that she didn't understand and wanted to get an explanation. At present, Nancy's bill has an APR (percentage rate) of 14.90% but the insert was notifying her that her new interest rate as of February 3 would be a minimum of 25.99% on any carry over balances.
We were both dumbfounded: the U.S. citizens have just given $350 Billion to the banks to bail them out in order that they provide more credit at reasonable rates and make more credit readily available to consumers in order to stimulate the economy. This money was not provided by the U.S. simply to make banks solvent again and then allow them to raise interest rates on their present credit holders as a "business decision."
Yes, that is what I said, a "recent business decision" for all credit card holders. Nancy and I called Citibank and they justified this new interest rate rise as necessary to generate more income from the U.S. taxpayers by that very answer. The fact that she had 14 years of being an excellent credit card user had no effect on even a possibility of a lower rate. Now is this an example of stimulating the economy or simply usary against the very hands that fed that same banking institution to keep it alive? The next day I received the same notice in my bill raising my rate from 11.90% to 18.99%, with the same explanation.
We need accountability to the taxpayers who have paid out this money and will continue paying for it in years to come. It is like getting taxed on both ends -- taxed by the government to pay for the money given the banks for bailouts and then the bank turns around and essentially taxes us again by upping our interest rates after they receive our money. This is one area that Barack Obama needs to go back and demand accountability for every dime that has been paid out to financial institutions and how much has gone towards maintaining moderate rates on credit and making more reasonable loans. We cannot continue to be used to clean up the messes of the greediest banks, funds, and brokerage houses and then treated like fools who are owed nothing in using the monies as they were intended.
Write your Representatives and the Finance Committee of the U.S. Senate and demand accountability for this TARP funds. This is part of the "responsibility of participation in the process" that Obama was talking about.
We were both dumbfounded: the U.S. citizens have just given $350 Billion to the banks to bail them out in order that they provide more credit at reasonable rates and make more credit readily available to consumers in order to stimulate the economy. This money was not provided by the U.S. simply to make banks solvent again and then allow them to raise interest rates on their present credit holders as a "business decision."
Yes, that is what I said, a "recent business decision" for all credit card holders. Nancy and I called Citibank and they justified this new interest rate rise as necessary to generate more income from the U.S. taxpayers by that very answer. The fact that she had 14 years of being an excellent credit card user had no effect on even a possibility of a lower rate. Now is this an example of stimulating the economy or simply usary against the very hands that fed that same banking institution to keep it alive? The next day I received the same notice in my bill raising my rate from 11.90% to 18.99%, with the same explanation.
We need accountability to the taxpayers who have paid out this money and will continue paying for it in years to come. It is like getting taxed on both ends -- taxed by the government to pay for the money given the banks for bailouts and then the bank turns around and essentially taxes us again by upping our interest rates after they receive our money. This is one area that Barack Obama needs to go back and demand accountability for every dime that has been paid out to financial institutions and how much has gone towards maintaining moderate rates on credit and making more reasonable loans. We cannot continue to be used to clean up the messes of the greediest banks, funds, and brokerage houses and then treated like fools who are owed nothing in using the monies as they were intended.
Write your Representatives and the Finance Committee of the U.S. Senate and demand accountability for this TARP funds. This is part of the "responsibility of participation in the process" that Obama was talking about.
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