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Reply to "CREDIT CARD USE IN AMERICA"

There is some validity to teaching proper handling of one's finances.

However, the American credit card-issuing companies are the modern equivalent of highway robber Jesse James!

Since credit card users take responsibility for their credit card payments, credit card users should expect the credit card companies to do the same.

It is not unrealistic to expect an END to:

* Late fees if a bill payment is postmarked by the due date;

* Retroactive interest rates - changes that apply a higher interest rate to charges made under the old interest rate;

* Interest rate increases due to a late payment made on some other debt;

* Over-limit fees if the credit card company has pre-approved the charge.

Credit card contracts, updates, and bills should be easier to read and understand. They should give basic information users need to know, in a format that they can understand... without getting a lawyer.

* Each bill should update the user about the financial result of making a minimum payment--how long it will take to repay the balance and how much it will cost in interest;

* The pricing disclosed in the contract and in bills must be simpler and easier to understand.

Finally, if users can't always understand thier credit card contract, how can they expect their teenaged children to understand?

Congress should protect young consumers from marketing practices that place them at risk of crushing debt that can ruin their financial futures.

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