How The National Credit Card Debt Increased So Rapidly
At some point along the way, credit card companies begin to see their customers not as individuals and valued customers, but as cash cows and profit centers. And, coincidentally, this is when credit card debt began to rapidly rise.
So, slowly over a number of years, small but significant changes begin to take place in the credit market and credit card companies begin to think differently. If a customer’s payment arrived one day late, why not charge a $20 or $30 late fee. If the cardholder went $5 over their credit card limit, let’ s not refuse it. Instead why not charge a $30 or $40 over limit fee.
And let’s offer zero percent interest credit card, but in small legal sized print, lets raise the rate to 21 percent after an “introductory period.” And lets do a lot of other things as well. And as a result, profits rose to record height and bonuses were off the chart.
