Take Action: The Credit Card Crisis
Have you ever known somebody trapped in a spiral of credit card debt?
We’ve all seen it happen, right? The cardholder works and works to meet
their payments, but while contending with high interest rates, hidden
fees and shifting terms, the best they can do is chip away at their
balance – or worse, watch their debt continue grow.
On
May 22, when President Obama signed the Credit Card Accountability,
Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (CARD), he announced new
rules that would protect American consumers from some of the worst
practices of the credit card companies, such as hidden fees and sudden
rate hikes.
However, in many ways the deck is still stacked against credit card users:
1. There is still no limit on the interest rates that credit card issuers can charge consumers, and credit card issuers are warning that rates are going to go up.
2. Credit card holders are still charged high fees and can be penalized for using their cards.
3. If cardholders end up in a dispute with their credit card company, they are often denied their day in court, due to “mandatory arbitration clauses.”
4. Cardholders often aren’t given all of the terms regarding their card until after they’ve been approved.
5. There's no sense of responsibility
in the system – many of the mega-banks egg consumers to take on more
debt, sport a whole host of other irresponsible practices (such as
financing coal-fired power plants) and don't follow the
community-building best practices of community investment banks and credit unions.
While
we at Green America applaud the steps our government has taken, we want
to see the credit card companies do even better – and we’re betting you
do too. When we sent out an e-mail on "breaking up with your bank"
(including info on finding more responsible credit cards)
back in February, your feedback was impressive. We received message
after message from Green Americans who have had bad experiences with
the mega-banks and are looking for a bank that treats their customers
with dignity – as people, not as accounts.
Sign our petition and tell the mega-banks how you feel »
Join Green America in telling Bank of America, Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase to change their practices. As three of the largest credit card issuers, their business practices set the trends in their industry. If they become more responsible and more consumer-friendly, other banks will likely follow suit.
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