I may be as anti-credit card as they come, but this is still offensively over the top, even for the banking industry. The banks have been given a lifeline and yet they never seem to pass that on to consumers. Worse still is that Congress can never find it important enough to make consumer protection an issue. People on both sides are complaining about this though Congress always knows where they get their own cash for reelection and respond accordingly. It's hard to imagine how voters could become cynical.
"In my case, from 9.5 percent to 16.99," the 54-year-old nurse from the Long Island hamlet of Merrick, New York, told CNN. And his wife's rate zoomed from 7.95 percent to 16.99 percent, he said.Not to worry though. That consumer "Bill of Rights" is surely just around the corner, sitting there with the economic recovery.
Stevens said he did not know why the rates had soared; his credit rating is great.
But, like thousands of other credit card customers around the nation, he has been notified his rate is skyrocketing.
"It almost borders on loan-sharking, from my perspective," he said.
