Re: Welcome, illegal immigrants, to Credit Nation
- From: "Jerry Okamura" <okamuraj005@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2007 17:20:05 -0700
So, the country from which they came from, does not give them an opportunity to go into debt, with a credit card?
"Florida" <demeter547opine@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:1174256477.267260.194870@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/steffy/4608322.html
March 7, 2007, 12:08AM
Give us your tired, your poor and all of your money
By LOREN STEFFY, Houston Chronicle
Welcome, illegal immigrants, to the Credit Nation. You're what we like
to call an untapped market, huddled masses yearning to spend free.
Some researchers estimate your purchasing power at $200 billion,
according to the Associated Press.
To tap into that, Bank of America is testing a program in Los Angeles
that may be expanded nationwide. It's offering you an opportunity to
sign up for credit cards, even if you're not citizens.
Yes, you too can do your part to augment the $876 billion in credit
card debt that the Federal Reserve said Americans had amassed as of
November.
Banks like BofA are happy for your interest payments and fees,
regardless of your citizenship.
All you have to do is subject yourselves to the same random and
ambiguous credit card rules as the rest of us.
Because you're new to this process, here's a guide to the credit
lexicon that will help you evaluate your new credit card:
· Terms. If you don't speak English, don't worry. Even we native
speakers can't understand what it says in the ant-scratch type that
accompanies our new cards. Loosely translated, it means the bank can
charge whatever it wants and change the terms whenever it likes. You
can't.
· Annual fee. This is what the bank charges you for the privilege of
going into debt and racking up more fees. Think of it as a membership
in the Fee-of-the-Month Club.
· Cash advance fee. This is the fee you pay so you can go into debt
faster. Don't confuse this with interest, which will still be charged
on the cash advance balance, albeit at a higher rate than regular
charges.
· Credit limit. The mythical barrier that caps how much the bank will
allow you to borrow. Don't worry. When you get close to it, the bank
will raise it so you can keep spending, unless, of course, it can
charge you an over-limit fee first.
· Grace period. Another myth. There is no grace in consumer credit.
· Finance charge. The variable fee that the bank extracts, mostly for
interest. The charge is based on your balance, although some banks
have started charging customers who pay off their balance each month.
Finance charges are where credit card companies make most of their
money from you.
· Introductory rate. A.k.a. the bait. The interest rate the banks use
to lure you in. It's the only part of the terms written in a readable
font.
· Actual rate, or variable interest rate. What the bank will actually
charge you. It will be significantly higher than the introductory rate
and may violate the concept of usury as expressed in several major
religions.
· Preapproved. A mangled English term that means if you have a pulse,
they'll give you a card.
· Universal default. A.k.a. the train wreck clause. If you're late on
one account, other banks can raise the rates they charge you on other
cards. Nothing accelerates the spinning vortex of debt quite like
this.
· Minimu m payment. The least amount you must pay every month to
ensure that you will never actually pay off the balance.
· Payment due date. This is not the date by which your payment must be
postmarked. Nor is it the date by which you must pay your bill online.
This is the day and time by which someone at the bank must actually
see your payment. If they take a long coffee break, you may be
assessed a ...
· Late fee. The flat fee charged for a late payment as defined above.
The fee itself, though, is just the beginning. A late payment may
cause your interest rate to soar like an eagle, which, by the way, is
a bird of prey.
· Previous balance. This is like financial quicksand. It's the unpaid
balance that carries over from the previous month, a running tally of
your indebtedness. The deeper you sink, the more the credit card
company makes. See finance charge.
Bank of America has been criticized for offering you easy credit, even
though some other banks have been doing this for a while.
The banks don't have much choice. Having bombarded the American public
with unsolicited come-ons for years, the megabanks have sopped up most
readily available spendthrifts and debtmongers.
They need a new demographic, and who better than 12 million people
unfamiliar with our credit ways who can be trapped into an unbreakable
cycle of debt?
Credit cards, as you may have read in the marketing materials, are
really about convenience.
Don't worry about the ever-larger numbers piling up on your
statements. Once you're a card-carrying member of Credit Nation, you
too can spend money without really thinking about it.
After all, it's the American way.
--------------------------------------------
.
- References:
- Welcome, illegal immigrants, to Credit Nation
- From: Florida
- Welcome, illegal immigrants, to Credit Nation
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