Banks are businesses, they want to make money.

I was reading this blog today and it really bothered me. He has no clue what he was talking about regarding credit cards. I would like to say he was an idiot and talking out of his butt, however he is really just relaying the general consensus regarding credit, banks and credit cards. I know I can't educate the world, but I can put some truth out there.

While at the bank I had several customers who would complain about their monthly dues, or various handling fees. My standard response was to smile and see how I could get them into an account that better fit them, and see how I could reverse the handling fees. I did this because it was easier than telling them that the fees were just. When someone writes an NSF cheque I had to search the bank for other accounts of his to see if I could make a transfer to cover the NSF. Then I had to check to see if there were any comments about not transferring for him, then finally I transferred the money, which was a 60 keystroke process (yes I counted, it was on an archaic system that they have since replaced). I think that the customer should be more than happy to pay that $5.00 handling fee. The alternative? I could have bounced the cheque, I would have been in my right to do it. He wrote a cheque on an account that didn't have the funds.... Bounce baby, bounce! Anyhow I would reverse the fees the first time, I wouldn't do it again though. And I would only track down other accounts so many times too. It took a large part of my morning and I had other things I needed to do. Mortgages don't write themselves.... I would undo fees for customers because it was easier than arguing and my time was worth more than the $5.00 we charged them, but I would also educate my customer. I told many of them that banks are businesses, they want to make money too. Often many of them understood that and didn't complain as much.

When I was in the credit card department I would often get people calling in complaining that their card had been "turned off" and they had no idea why. Sure enough when I would pull up their account they hadn't made a payment and were 60 days past due. To clarify 60 days past due is 60 days since their due date, which is roughly 3 weeks from when they receive the bill. So they have known that they have had a payment for close to 90 days, but didn't make one and still expect to use their card. When I would explain this to someone they often said that they didn't receive their bill and it wasn't their fault. However it was their fault, bill or not they spent the money and they know that they have to pay the money back.
Another issue that customers like to whine about it when their low interest rate card increases in rate. There are several reasons for this. First the interest rate was introductory and it was supposed to change, but the customer didn't know. Second a company may increase their rate if the customer is late on a payment. This is common on the low interest cards. To combat this I really encourage people to read the fine print, if it seems so great, check it out and make sure you are comfortable entering into that contract, because as soon as you use that card you are entering into a contract.

Finally the best way to preserve your credit rating is to make at least your minimum payment on time. We would say at the bank that a minimum payment on time is better than a full payment late. Also paying an amount which isn't the exact minimum amount won't help or hurt you, as long as it's over the payment amount. My mom once told me to get a credit card and make payments over the minimum, but make them not even numbers, like if the minimum was $10.00 to pay $11.63 so that the credit card company had to reassess your amount and your new minimum. Unfortunately this isn't true, it's all automated and the amount is treated just like the minimum. My mom was right though, always make your minimum payment.

(Okay Adam's home and it's date night, I'll edit this later and add to it.)