CREDIT CARD AGREEMENT

I got a notice that my card agreement was changing. After reading it, I'm betting they hope most people don't.

In summary, the new agreement says that unless you promptly pay your balance in full, you will pay through the nose. I knew already that, but was still surprised at some of the details.

The already stiff late payment fee jumps even higher once you are “late” paying your bill. Never mind that you weren’t actually late. They go by the day they get around to posting your payment, which can be days after they received and cashed your check.

If you don’t pay your balance in full, they will apply your payment in whatever way is most costly to you! For example, if different portions of your balance are subject to different interest rates, they will apply your payment to the portion with the lowest interest rate. If different portions of your bill benefit from different promotions, they will apply your payment to the longest promotion, effectively abolishing the shorter promotion. Too bad for anyone snookered into sticking their hand into this monkey jar.

Oh, and by the way, even though the card is advertised as having no annual fee, they can change that at any time. Or automatically “upgrade” the card to one with totally different terms.