Niiiiice KD. I've been local for some time now. **** 'em all.

Done yesterday, with great pleasure.......PLUS, when I called the local credit union to ask about their increased rates on Credit Cards (even though I don't carry a balance). I was told......."We see you ALREADY have qualified for our lower <even than now> rate, and will implement it on your go ahead."

They were reading my mind, as I hadn't mentioned anything about anything.

A great way to get some satisfaction.......

Cut off all of them ties in Jan/Feb of this year.

I like it alot...I hope you can do it in a video and keep it under 4 min. and not technical at all...then lets get it viral- internet, op-eds,letters to the editor...make the ungrateful big four squirm like we have never seen!

(Entire article)

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/colu....

Latest bank fee is for paying off credit card on time every month

You floss regularly, yield to oncoming traffic and use your credit cards judiciously, dutifully paying off your balance every month.

You may believe that your exemplary behavior shields you from unexpected credit card fees. Sadly, that is no longer the case.

Starting next year, Bank of America will charge a small number of customers an annual fee, ranging from $29 to $99. The bank has characterized the fee as experimental. But card holders who have never carried a balance or paid late fees could be among those affected.

Citigroup, meanwhile, has started charging annual fees to card holders who don't put more than a specific amount on their cards, typically $2,400 a year. Other banks are charging inactivity fees if customers don't use their credit cards during a specific period of time. You heard that right: You could be spanked for staying out of debt.

These fees are the credit card industry's response to credit card legislation that will, among other things, restrict credit card issuers' ability to raise interest rates on existing balances. Credit card issuers are looking for ways to raise income before the new rules take effect in February. During the first quarter, 27% of credit card offers included annual fees, up from 18% a year earlier, according to Synovate Mail Monitor, a credit card direct-mail tracking service.

Curtis Arnold, founder of CardRatings.com, says he expected credit card issuers to raise annual fees after the legislation was enacted. What he didn't expect, he says, "was that good customers were going to be hit."

Fortunately, if you've paid off your balance on time every month, you probably have a good credit score. And when you have good credit, you have more choices.

What to do if your card issuer starts charging an annual fee — or increases the fee you're already paying:

•Call and complain. Check your credit score first to make sure you're on solid ground, says Adam Levin, founder of Credit.com, a consumer website. If you have a good score and you've been a good customer, the lender may be willing to waive the fee to keep your business.

•Weigh the benefits of rewards against the annual fee. The days when you could get a rewards card with no annual fee are numbered, Arnold says. If your rewards card charges a fee, you'll need to figure out whether the value of the rewards exceeds the fee.

That's not always easy to do, particularly with cards that give you airline miles, says Chris Fichera, associate editor for Consumer Reports. Rewards miles often come with restrictions and expiration dates, making it difficult to figure out how much they're worth, he says.

"A lot of airline cards are not the best deal unless you can combine them with a frequent-flier plan," Fichera adds.

If you're not a frequent flier, Fichera says, you're probably better off using a card that gives you cash back. As long as you can estimate how much you spend, it's easy to figure out whether you'll get enough cash back to justify the annual fee.

•Leave. If your card issuer won't waive the fee, you'll have a choice: Pay the annoying fee or close your account. Unfortunately, this decision isn't as clear-cut as it sounds, because closing an account could hurt your credit score.

One of the factors used to calculate your credit score is what's known as the "credit utilization ratio," which is based on the amount of credit you have outstanding as a percentage of your total available credit. When you close a credit card account, the amount of your total available credit shrinks, which could lead to a higher utilization rate. This ratio accounts for 30% of your credit score.

In addition, closing an account you've owned a long time could affect your credit history, another factor used to calculate your score, Fichera says.

Still, if you aren't carrying balances on your other accounts and the card is relatively new, closing your account is worth considering. Even now, there are good deals out there, particularly for card holders with good credit, Arnold says. For example, the Fidelity Rewards American Express card pays 2% of cash back to a Fidelity account, with no limits on cash rewards and no annual fee.

If you don't care about rewards and just want a credit card that doesn't charge an annual fee, consider applying for a card through a credit union. Many credit union cards charge no annual fee and offer below-average interest rates.

Associations, such as the USAA, which provides products and services for military personnel and their families, also offer good deals on credit cards, according to Consumer Reports.

Sandra Block covers personal finance for USA TODAY. Her Your Money column appears Tuesdays. Click here for an index of Your Money columns. E-mail her at: sblock@usatoday.com. Follow on Twitter: www.twitter.com/sandyblock

Did not realize our office card (17 yrs.) and home card (19 yrs.) had been converted to Chase.

Cancelled once paid off this month.

Moved everything from "Walkalloverya" over a year ago to local bank...forgot the cards...duh!

my Capital One Debit card pays airline miles and I don't have to worry about carrying a balance...

You guys who have only been with a big bank for years are going to **** your pants when you realize how much you've been being raped for years.

Get into a good CU: http://www.ncua.gov/DataServices/FindCU.....

REMEMBER: AS A MEMBER, YOU ARE A SHAREHOLDER AND THEREFORE ENTITLED TO SEE THEIR BALANCE SHEET! LOOK AT THEIR BALANCE SHEET BEFORE YOU MAKE A DECISION. You can request a balance sheet be sent to you quarterly - some do this without asking.

You will never again be unaware if your banking institution becomes insolvent.

If they start charging me for paying off on time and not carrying a balance, they will not have me as a customer for very long. I'll go to cash and carry. To hell with it.

We are going to cancel our Bank of America and Capital One cards shortly and just use our Credit Union CCs. We were only using the BofA card for gas, because we were getting a 5% rebate on gas purchases....and the Capital One for the cash back/miles....

Our Credit Union card doesn't offer cash back, but we will accumulate points so we can buy stuff from a catalog...

We've been too lazy to cancel our BofA and Capital One CCs...but we are now going to pay them off and cancel them in the next couple of days...I've finally had enough of this crap...

Get_A_Grip, PenFed DOES offer a 1.5% cash-back card.

Get theirs.

KD: That's a great first step. Now I propose that we expand the boycott to ANY company or group of people (like Realtors and loan officers, for example) who claim to be in favor of a free market when times are good but want a government bailout when times are bad.

1. Not just the big 4, but ALL TARP banks should be boycotted.
2. General Motors should be boycotted, not only for being a tool of the federal government, but for the nasty way they treated senior note holders.
3. The shameless *****s and shills of the mainstream media should be boycotted. This means that we stop posting videos from or even mentioning that GE subsidiary that acts as carnival barker for Wall Street.
4. Anybody in Big Pharma who stands to benefit from spreading H1N1 hysteria.
5. Anybody in real estate or finance who puts their own interest above the national interest starting with NAR, Toll Brothers, et al.

Im sure readers can come up with a whole bunch more. I have already been boycotting these organizations.

Next, I'd like to propose that we recognize and support any organization or individual who has acted with integrity and courage, starting with the likes of Indiana Treasurer Richard Murdoch who went toe to toe with the administration over the rights of senior debt holders. I also think we need to build a culture where savers are recognized not only as prudent, but as courageous freedom fighters who will make capital available for a rebirth when it all burns down and there is virtually no doubt now that it is a matter of "when" not "if."

Ladies and gentlemen, we have more power than we can imagine if we harness it and use it collectively. I am sick of bitching. I am sick of worrying. I am sick of bending over to the lords of the manner. I feel like fighting back, not with a gun and with bullets, but in a manner that really hurts them.

Karl, I'm pleading with you. Use your bully pulpit to make this happen. It is far more worthwhile than demanding prosecutions that you and I are never gonna see. Thank you.

Do employee credit unions (i.e. municipal employees) accept non-employees as members?

If this occurs could you say pay off all of your balance except for say a dollar or 2 each month?

I gave these banks the finger a long time ago. My banking is done througha credit union for the last 10+ years.

I have a 0% balance transfer - no transfer fees - with WAMU (now Wells Fargo). They made nothing on that loan. I will pay it off in total in March and then I will tell them to go to hell in writing.

Free no-interest loan for 12 months. These *******s were banking on me missing payments and or carrying this loan past the intro period to******me with late fees, high rate etc..

I know the credit cards that offer premiums and cash back are nice but who do you think is paying for that and who benefits when you use the credit card? The merchant has to charge a higher price and the banks get their percentage on every transaction that is made.

If you want to really send a message, go back to carrying cash and don't use credit cards to pay for things. Take out enough cash at the beginning of every week and pay cash. You'll probably end up spending less this way which will offset any rewards you might not earn if you had used a credit card. Just the thought of sticking it to the banks should be reward enough.

Quote:

I know the credit cards that offer premiums and cash back are nice but who do you think is paying for that and who benefits when you use the credit card? The merchant has to charge a higher price and the banks get their percentage on every transaction that is made.

I carry enough and will pay cash for any merchant that is not going to SWALLOW the discount rate and keep it.

Since he is required to price for credit if he wants to give that back to me (that which is NOT ENTITLED on a cash sale) I'll pay with Dead Presidents.

I knew **** like fees on respsonsible borrowers was coming a while ago.
That is why I canceled my BOA CC when they changed the rate from fixed to variable. I don’t care if my rate is the same for now, variable is not what I signed up for.

These **********s get enough fees off of the transaction itself. **** them.

I’ve gotten all family members into local bank/CU except one uncle, the one who tells me I’m nuts and that everything is going to turn around due to the Cash 4 Clunkers and stimulus package.

I REALLY feel like going down to the closest BOA and taking a hot steaming dump in the middle of the lobby. Deposit THAT.

Yup, the PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa is where it's at:

https://www.penfed.org/productsAndRates/....

5% back on gas, 2% back on groceries, 1¼% back on everything else, credited automatically to your account every month. **** Chase's fancy-looking rewards ****.

</shill>

Need to add the United States Treasury to that list Gen.

Yeah right. No one in their right mind would withdraw cash from these banks. This is not a credible way to proceed.

Arrack: dump in a safety deposit box.

We should be boycotting any bank that received TARP funds.

Everyone's focusing on credit card issues. I think that misses the point. There is much more afoot. First, these large banks would belong to us except for the fact that Uncle Sam decided not to exercise its rights as owners, allowed them to borrow at zero, gave up warrants worth billions, and effectively encouraged these staid old institutions to gamble on the stock market, creating a lot of froth - a bubble that will surely burst, burning small investors far more than the banks. So yes, the government sure as hell is implicated. As Karl has shouted again and again, the government has flat failed to protect the people and has instead decided to protect the banksters. If the big banks want to screw their customers by increasing the costs of managing credit cards, that's just fine with me. There are alternatives. But given the extraordinary level of abuse, where you choose to place deposits is a public concern. Remember, we (taxpayers) are currently paying 0.25% for "excess reserves" at these banks. And while they enjoy a 12:1 reserve requirement, they are blatantly cheating. If Sheila won't do her job and close these banks, it is high time for us to do it for her - or force her hand. My point is the same as Karl's - if you want to hurt these banks, remove your deposits - NOW! Even if you have to pay an early withdrawal fee. Deposits create reserves and it is reserves these banks lend against. Remove a bank's deposits and it goes under. Place your money in institutions that are operated to benefit its owner/customers - like credit unions, not its management (Karl's list). And get good and*****ed off at our government, particularly politicians who take money from these banks - the best known of whom is one Barack Obama.

the problem is- 330 million people aren't tired of it. only about 10 million are.

The others either think:

1)Obama is the man. I mean, he's so cool because he's a minority and a Democrat! (literally....this is how young voters think today)

2) If we just had another Neocon in office everything would be dandy