The tactics of these companies are getting so sneaky. You really have to read the fine print.
The offer I got in the mail today from Orchard Bank ("Marbles" card) looks good on the surface, with a "variable customary APR" of 9.9% for purchases. But 9.9% is actually (if you read the fine print) what the APR happened to be on the date of the brochure (11/15/06), and it will vary every month based on "1/365th of the Index" (which if you read elsewhere in the brochure is based on the previous month's highest Prime Rate from the WSJ's Money Rates table), "plus 1.65%" as a daily periodic rate. So from month to month you would have no idea what you're going to be charged until you get your bill. I guess that's par for the course, since they're all allowed to change your rate anytime for any reason anyway, right?
Read on, and you find that the cash APR is 25.15%, default minimum is 29.49%, Late Payment fee of $30 or $35, and (really sleazy, this one) a Credit Limit Increase fee of "up to 50% of the CLI" if such an increase is "requested and approved".
Just some words to the wise.
tess
The offer I got in the mail today from Orchard Bank ("Marbles" card) looks good on the surface, with a "variable customary APR" of 9.9% for purchases. But 9.9% is actually (if you read the fine print) what the APR happened to be on the date of the brochure (11/15/06), and it will vary every month based on "1/365th of the Index" (which if you read elsewhere in the brochure is based on the previous month's highest Prime Rate from the WSJ's Money Rates table), "plus 1.65%" as a daily periodic rate. So from month to month you would have no idea what you're going to be charged until you get your bill. I guess that's par for the course, since they're all allowed to change your rate anytime for any reason anyway, right?
Read on, and you find that the cash APR is 25.15%, default minimum is 29.49%, Late Payment fee of $30 or $35, and (really sleazy, this one) a Credit Limit Increase fee of "up to 50% of the CLI" if such an increase is "requested and approved".
Just some words to the wise.
tess
)
Comment