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PBS Frontline Secret History of the Credit Card
In “Secret History of the Credit Card,” FRONTLINE® and The New York Times join forces to investigate an industry few Americans fully understand. In this one-hour report, correspondent Lowell Bergman uncovers the techniques used by the industry to earn record profits and get consumers to take on more debt.
“The almost magical convenience of plastic money is critical to our famously compulsive consumer economy,” Bergman says. “With more than 641 million credit cards in circulation and accounting for an estimated $1.5 trillion of consumer spending, the U.S. economy has clearly gone plastic.”
Millions of American families use their personal, general-purpose credit cards such as Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover to make ends meet; credit cards have been a discreet lifeline for families in financial straits.
But other consumers, like actor and author Ben Stein, use plastic purely for convenience. While it would appear that Stein — who says he charges a small fortune every month on his credit cards — is the ideal customer, in reality, he is what some in the industry call a “deadbeat.” That’s because he pays his balance in full every month.
The industry’s most profitable customers, the ones being sought by creative marketing tactics, are the “revolvers:” the estimated 115 million Americans who carry monthly credit card debt.
Ed Yingling, incoming president of the American Bankers Association, tells FRONTLINE that revolvers are “the sweet spot” of the banking industry. This “sweet spot” continues to grow as the average credit card debt among American households has more than doubled over the past decade. Today, the average family owes roughly $8,000 on their credit cards. This debt has helped generate record profits for the credit card industry — last year, more than $30 billion before taxes.
Some experts say the profitability of credit cards really began twenty-five years ago, when the banking industry successfully eliminated a critical restriction: the limit on the interest rate a lender can charge a borrower. Deregulation, coupled with a revolution in technology that enables the almost real-time tracking of personal financial information and the emergence of nationwide banking, has facilitated the widening availability of credit cards across the economic spectrum. But for some, the cost of credit is often far greater than it appears.
According to Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Warren, the credit card companies are misleading consumers and making up their own rules. “These guys have figured out the best way to compete is to put a smiley face in your commercials, a low introductory rate, and hire a team of MBAs to lay traps in the fine print,” Warren tells FRONTLINE.
Warren and other critics say that a growing share of the industry’s revenues come from what they call deceptive tactics, such as “default” terms spelled out in the fine print of cardholder agreements — the terms and conditions of which can be changed at any time for any reason with 15 days’ notice.
Penalty fees and rates are sometimes triggered by just a single lapse — a payment that arrives a couple of days or even hours late, a charge that exceeds the credit line by a few dollars, or a loan from another creditor which renders the cardholder “overextended” as defined by the nation’s three all-powerful credit bureaus. This flurry of unexpected fees and rate hikes come just when consumers can least afford them.
“[Banks are] raising interest rates, adding new fees, making the due date for your payment a holiday or a Sunday on the hopes that maybe you’ll trip up and get a payment in late,” says Robert McKinley, founder and chairman of Cardweb.com and Ram Research, a payment card research firm. “It’s become a very anti-consumer marketplace.”
Banking Association spokesman Yingling defends industry practices. Because the credit card business is basically unsecured lending, he says, the risks associated with the business must be offset.
But that’s of little consolation to consumers who may be in trouble. According to the Better Business Bureau, credit card and banking companies are the subject of a record numbers of complaints. “It’s not an accident that the banking and credit card business generates more complaints nationally, across the country, than any other industry…Out of one thousand industries that we track, they are number one,” says Pat Wallace, head of the San Francisco Bay Area Better Business Bureau. “There are irritated, unhappy, dissatisfied customers in this industry.”
As Professor Warren sees it, the industry is operating without fear of penalty. “There’s no regulator, and there’s no customer who can bring this industry to heel,” Warren says.
Duration : 0:56:9
1. GOLD & SILVER INVESTING MOVIE! (Part 1) Mike Maloney – ‘Why Gold & Silver?’
GET THE FULL MOVIE HERE: http://goldsilver.com/why-gold-silver-the-movie/ref/1052/dc/sgpromo/
Welcome to the first episode in our 10 part series!
We have been collectively hoodwinked into believing that our paper currencies are ’as good as gold’. Nothing could be further from the truth. Originally, our paper currency was a receipt for gold or silver held on deposit. But since 1971, all world currencies have been fiat -backed by nothing of physical value. Take a $10 bill from your wallet. Do you really think that the paper is worth $10? Welcome to the Matrix…
Buy the whole video, online version only $9.95: https://whygoldandsilverdvd.com/start/youtube?affid=7&s-site=youtube&s-page=gse1
If you like the title music (the NZ Dub part) please check out the site of the most amazing Aaron Saxon – http://www.aaronsaxon.com Music for liberating your mind. Thanks for believing in me bro. Dan.
You can also keep up with our latest filming efforts on the official Facebook page for ‘Why Gold & Silver’, get the latest developments and see behind the scenes photos here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Why-Gold-and-Silver-The-Movie/129698967041133?ref=sgm
Please click the ‘Like’ button and help us spread the hard money message on Facebook!
Duration : 0:9:16
Investing vs Paying Credit Card Debt
If you carry a balance on one or more credit cards, you’re not alone: according to the Federal Reserve, nearly half of American families do. And nearly half of American families also have some sort of bank savings accounts. If you have savings, should you use that money to pay off your credit cards?
Duration : 0:1:16
7. High Credit Card Interest Rates
There are reasons which make credit card interest rates so high. High credit card interest rates make having this kind of debt a bad idea especially if it compounds very quickly after we bought things that quickly lose their value.
Duration : 0:3:49
Save MONEY and pay down debt – Budget Vision Victory
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Special Economic update Aug 21
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Duration : 0:16:3
Market Technical Analysis – Wild Swings Continue As Dollar Zigs Then Zags…Get The Plays Now To $$
InTheMoneyStocks.com breaks out the key technical analysis techniques they have become famous for. They analyze the charts on the market to showcase their technical trend line analysis, price, pattern and time values. By utilizing these methods and not using the common technical tools which almost never work anymore, they are able to call every major and minor market move avoiding Wall Street hype. InThemoneyStocks.com looks at major support and resistance levels on the charts telling their viewers where the market will rise and fall. They talk about major rules that must be learned. Enjoy and come get their premium daily, month, weekly and intra day expert guidance on the markets, gold, oil, us$ and stocks in their premium nightly videos, daily market reports, pro trader watch list, hidden gems and technical tactics. All included in the Research Center for just $49.99/month. Best value and guidance on Wall Street by those that avoid the Wall Street hype! RealTick graphics used with permission of Townsend Analytics, Ltd. ©1986-2009 Townsend Analytics, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. RealTick is a registered trademark of Townsend Analytics, Ltd.
Duration : 0:7:36
8. Debt Consolidation – savingandinvesting.com
Some of the principles behind consolidating your debt explained.
Duration : 0:3:29
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