Don't Let Your Anger Ruin Your Credit

Let's face it, we've all had a poor experience with a customer service representative. Altoof times, when we get angry at a company employee that mistreats us, we feel as if the compan mistreated us, and we feel the need to cut ties with them. In the credit industry, that would pobably lead us to closing a card or other account in the heat of the moment. Whatever the reason may be, whether they lowered your limit, ratejacked you, or they gave really awful customer service....you're probably shooting yourself in the foot by closing that card/account.

I myself have had to deal with more than one extremely rude CSR (customer service rep). A few years ago, I was ready to close an account due to them. It seemed at the moment that te individual who obviously was having a bad day and took it out on me, represented the credit card company's opinion of me. n reality, they onll represened their job and their unprofessionalism. This occured to me when I was so angry I told a friend that I had closed the card nd was considering not paying them another cent. Then she told me something that saved both my account and future credit: "That person doesn't car what you do to te acount. You're not hurting them by ruining your own creit. You're only hurting yourself." Then it clicked... This person is just sitting in a cubical somewhere taking calls, viewing me as just another faceless problem they had to deal with. It had rang so true that i followed her advice and salvaged the account. It's easy to let CSR's repreent the banks because the banks put them out there to do so. However, the fact is that no matter how angry a phone rep makes you (or even an underwriter or even a supervisor), the common consumer as an individual really can't hurt a big bank no matter what you do to your own accounts, and closing an accoun...well that only hurts you.

So how can you show a bank how you feel about their poor decisions and/or attitude towards you and/or your account? Well, for one we can stop them from profiting from us. The best ay to go about this payin off and sockdrawering (not using) the card. Unless your card has some kind of fee attached to it, sockdrawering your card with a zero balance takes away any profits they were makng off you, without tang away from your available credit AND it continues to build age. Yes, credit cards continue to count in the ge category in the fico calculation whether they're open or closed, however positive accountsremin for 10 years AFTER they're closed. So by delaying the closure, you're retaining the positive tradeline on your report for a longer period of time.

I hope this helps in your future as far as decision making about closing accounts is concerned. I do NOT believe in keeping a sockdrawered card open if it has a fee attached (such as an annual fee). If that's the case, then closing the car wouldn't be a bad decision. If, in a moment of anger you closed an accoun and then regretted it later, some have had luck caling back and geting the account reopeed. In any case, when a bad CSR gives you a gun, don't shoot yourself in the foot with it.

Credit Card Changes for 2010

Well, I guess the saying is “good things come to those who wait”, and apparently consumers can expect good things regarding new legislation in the credit card industry in the year 2010.

After more than 60,000 people wrote into the feds demanding changes, the biggest changes to hit the credit card industry were put in motion and will take effect in July 2010. Some of the changes include:

blocking card companies from applying higher interest rates on existing balances.
Late fees could not be charged without giving consumers at least 21 days to make a payment.
Banning of two-cycle billing
Any payment consumers make beyond the minimum must be applied to the balance with the highest interest rate or spread proportionally to all balances.
While these changes are good news for existing cardholders and will prevent the mysterious charges that sometimes occur on existing credit card statements, it will actually serve to raise the rates most new credit cardholders receive when applying for new credit. Consumers will probably not notice as many 0% offers in their mailboxes because the credit card industry won’t be able to afford to offer the lower rates (since it can’t increase rates on existing customers!)

According to a study by law firm Morrison & Foerster, these new changes in the credit card industry may reduce the credit card industry revenues by $12 billion per year.