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Exactly. I tried to do some research into the current credit cards rates and found a spread of numbers but around 20%[1] seems like a reasonable guess. The curr
by gav 6y ago
Exactly. I tried to do some research into the current credit cards rates and found a spread of numbers but around 20%[1] seems like a reasonable guess. The current prime rate is 3.25%[2].
I'm not saying that credit card companies should lend at prime, but I feel that reducing rates for existing balances to 10 or even 15% could make a huge difference to a lot of people.
American Express sent me an email a month ago talking about it being a "difficult time" and nothing is more important to them than their customers "health and safety" but all they can offer is telling me that call volumes are really high so I should manage my account online. That's not really that helpful, sorry!
[1] https://www.thebalance.com/average-credit-card-interest-rate-4772408 https://www.thebalance.com/average-credit-card-interest-rate...
[2] https://moneywise.com/a/what-is-the-prime-rate https://moneywise.com/a/what-is-the-prime-rate
- dehrmann 6y agoUnless the government steps up to backstop the risk, there's no reason for those rates to go down. But the Fed's been doing some pretty interesting things, so maybe they'll start buying securitized credit card debt.
- dillondoyle 6y agoCan card companies raise rates on existing debt? Seems like a spiral where intervention is the best option? more defaults -> higher rates to offset risk -> less affordable then more defaults -> repeat