So You Dumped Your Credit Cards and are Using Your Debit Card?

[Palehorse]

A large number of Americans have elected to dump their credit cards over the last few years. As the economy has tanked, consumers have begun reducing the amount of debt they carry and a large portion of us have started paying for our things via cash; and the lions share of those transactions have involved the use of our debit cards.

As Wall Street reforms impacted creditors and the fees and amounts they can charge for interest on their cards, banks have increasingly begun charging customers for transactions that historically were complimentary, and even at the gas pumps there is now a limit on how much you can place onto a single transaction. 75 bucks is the most common I have seen.

Now, banks across the country are starting to implement limits to the amounts of transactions that may be made with our debit cards. JPMorgan Chase, one of the nation's largest banks, is considering capping debit card transactions at either $50 or $100, and according to what I am hearing most of the banks in the US are also considering doing the very same thing!

So now its not only when you go to the pump and ring up 100 dollars in a fuel purchase, that you'll have to do two separate transactions, but virtually everywhere you go now!!!!! 

[me]

That's what happens when you get the government involved in the banks business.  They had to make up for the new rules the Obama bunch put into effect to "protect consumers"  some way and that was it.

[Palehorse]

That's what happens when you get the government involved in the banks business.  They had to make up for the new rules the Obama bunch put into effect to "protect consumers"  some way and that was it.

So, let me get this straight. . . you are blaming the POTUS for overhauling the financial district in order to prevent another economic depression and national financial collapse?  The very same banks and financial institutions whose out of control spending and lending led to the crises in the first place????

Where JPMorganChase is concerned, the changes resulted in a reduction of 1 billion from the billionS they make EACH year on debit card transactions. This is just their way of recouping that BILLION each year via enforcement of draconian policy.

When my banks enact these policies I am going to put my debit cards into the safe, and only take them out when I have to obtain some cash after hours. PERIOD. And when a bank begins offering policies that are more in line with the way things are today, I will move EVERYTHING from the banks that don't.

In addition, I'll begin using my AMEX to charge anything I can, and then write one check every month to pay it all off. ANd if they don't accept AMEX and I don't have the cash, guess I don't need whatever it was I was going to purchase! (Note: AMEX typically charges retailers a larger percentage of each transaction compared to traditional credit cards and debit cards). They can kiss my ass if they think I am going to just accept their draconian policies!

[me]

Unintended consequences of something enacted trying to "protect" and not being thought out.

[Palehorse]

Unintended consequences of something enacted trying to "protect" and not being thought out.

"Unintended" being the operative word, and banks are just getting themselves in more hot water if they think this is the answer to continuing profits on the backs of their customers. . .

[The Troll]

That's what happens when you get the government involved in the banks business.  They had to make up for the new rules the Obama bunch put into effect to "protect consumers"  some way and that was it.

  Along time ago.  "ME" said she didn't care how much the corporations or business charged for their products or services.  I got to say one thing she still true to her word.  Let the business screw us to death.  Let they over charged us with fees and penalties.  "ME" doesn't believe in fairness.   

[me]

"Unintended" being the operative word, and banks are just getting themselves in more hot water if they think this is the answer to continuing profits on the backs of their customers. . .

And it is worse now than it was because the ones it is hurting are the ones who pay their bills in a timely manner and use the cards only for emergencies.  It did help those who are constantly delinquent and over charge all the time though.  I've always figured if I didn't have the money in the bank I didn't need to spend it though so no debit credit card for me. 

[The Troll]

And it is worse now than it was because the ones it is hurting are the ones who pay their bills in a timely manner and use the cards only for emergencies.  It did help those who are constantly delinquent and over charge all the time though.  I've always figured if I didn't have the money in the bank I didn't need to spend it though so no debit credit card for me. 

  You're right things are bad, so many without a job and so many who have had their hours cut and wage cuts.  But the credit card companies were really taking advantage of their power.  You know what they were going was wrong.

  But people shouldn't use their credit cards to live on and you know it.  It causes them to get deeper and deeper in debt a hole they cannot get out of.  If they had admitted they were broke sooner and asked for "government" help they would have been in better shape than being so deeply in debt.  Some of these people are $30,000 to $40,000 in debt on credit cards.

  I'm glad Obama put a stop to the predatory banks and their credit cards.

[me]

  You're right things are bad, so many without a job and so many who have had their hours cut and wage cuts.  But the credit card companies were really taking advantage of their power.  You know what they were going was wrong.

  But people shouldn't use their credit cards to live on and you know it.  It causes them to get deeper and deeper in debt a hole they cannot get out of.  If they had admitted they were broke sooner and asked for "government" help they would have been in better shape than being so deeply in debt.  Some of these people are $30,000 to $40,000 in debt on credit cards.

  I'm glad Obama put a stop to the predatory banks and their credit cards.

IT IS NOT UP TO THE GOVERNMENT TO HELP PEOPLE GET OUT OF DEBT!!!!!!!  In case you didn't notice people have been in debt with credit cards for years and it is no ones fault but their own period.  The fees and charges on those cards were meant to discourage people from making payments late and over charging but they did it anyway even when things were good because they "had to have it now".  When this administration said the credit card companies could no longer do that they had to go another route to make up for the money they were losing.  There were already laws in effect to protect consumers from unfair interest and charges from back when loan companies were charging 25 to 30% interest and it seemed like they were compounding daily, or in some cases hourly.  Now what we have is the people who abuse are getting by and the ones who don't are paying for it.

[Palehorse]

IT IS NOT UP TO THE GOVERNMENT TO HELP PEOPLE GET OUT OF DEBT!!!!!!!  In case you didn't notice people have been in debt with credit cards for years and it is no ones fault but their own period.  The fees and charges on those cards were meant to discourage people from making payments late and over charging but they did it anyway even when things were good because they "had to have it now".  When this administration said the credit card companies could no longer do that they had to go another route to make up for the money they were losing.  There were already laws in effect to protect consumers from unfair interest and charges from back when loan companies were charging 25 to 30% interest and it seemed like they were compounding daily, or in some cases hourly.  Now what we have is the people who abuse are getting by and the ones who don't are paying for it.

In case you haven't noticed, the laws surrounding bankruptcy, which were typically used as an escape hatch by those who used credit cards unwisely, have substantially changed. (Bush) (And the lion's share of those laws governing lending institutions did NOT apply to those extending credit cards).

The laws regulating credit cards were changed due to the abusive nature in which banks and credit institutions were treating their customers. It was worse than the loan companies in many cases! Moreover, the amounts they charged to the stores for each transaction were substantially abusive and unreasonable and they reaped multi billions from those alone, for each institution!

This same industry typically compensates its employees at or very near minimum wage levels, so the billions they reap (and reaped over the years) have gone directly to the bottom line. (If you don't believe that take a look at the job boards and view the adds for tellers at banks, and customer service reps at banks. McDonalds pays better!)

Debit cards have been marketed as "same as cash" right out of the gate, because they draw upon the balances in your accounts, and are an immediate debit to your balance. They represent an increased level of security to those who chose to conduct their business on a cash only basis, by enabling them to do so without having to risk carrying actual cash on their person and being robbed of it.

NOW, it seems that in order for these institutions to recoup the dollars they are losing due to the new regulations, they are going to restrict the ability of their customers to continue to use debit cards, as a means to penalize retailers by forcing multiple transactions.

In time, that will result in increased fees to users of debit cards, due to the increased number of transactions conducted every day. So, they'll be looking to smack users with additional account fees just like JPMorgan Chase is ALREADY doing! In fact they are going to increase those fees even further!

This is going to drive a HUGE negative impact to the way consumers conduct personal business, forcing many to carry hard cash, which in turn will increase the violent armed robberies when the miscreants realize people are carrying cash again.

Seriously, I am going to STOP using debit cards at all once they begin doing this. I got rid of credit cards YEARS ago, and only own one that I have kept for business travel. Looks like I'll be using that instead of a debit card at some point in the future. . .

[Palehorse]

Here's another potential issue with these new policies. . .

What about the people in the state of Indiana that are currently collecting unemployment? Those funds are  no longer distributed via a check, but instead electronically deposited into an account for a debit card issued by PNC bank. . . 

[me]

It does not have to be used as a debit card it can be used as a credit card with no fees.

[Doc]

You can thank Scott Brown and all the Democrats.

[Palehorse]

It does not have to be used as a debit card it can be used as a credit card with no fees.

That's today. . . watch tomorrow.

[Palehorse]

You can thank Scott Brown and all the Democrats.

And you sir/madam, are exactly what is wrong with this country.