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Almost 20 years ago I interviewed with Capital One. They were drawing graphs of people's debts like it was calculus class, and asking me to come up with strate
by danielweber 12y ago
Almost 20 years ago I interviewed with Capital One. They were drawing graphs of people's debts like it was calculus class, and asking me to come up with strategies to maximize consumer debt.
It's a little bit on me that I didn't say "this is evil" and walk out, but I was much younger then and the job market for developers wasn't anywhere near as good as it is today.
- TheOtherHobbes 12y agoThis. The c-card companies have actuarial/mathematical models that make it possible to estimate the profitability of the debt/default/lawsuit process from start to finish - where finish can mean bankruptcy, a lien on property, or garnished wages. Consumers don't understand that this is what they are signing up for, and the c-card companies certainly don't make it clear that defaults are a key contributor to their profitability. There's at least one UK c-card company that charges interest rates of up 99.9% to high-risk customers. They know damn well that with a rate like that even a tiny debt is going to explode within a few months and give them the option to get a charge on someone's home, force them to sell, and pocket the original value of the debt, plus interest, plus legal costs.
- TheOtherHobbes 12y agoHN - where plain facts can get you downrated. [sigh...]