Originally Posted by
Flying Lawyer
For creditvon short notice, I currently (would have to) pay 9.5% for my bank overdraft which appears to be a fraction of these rates in the US.
Actually 9% or lower is not at all uncommon for various short term loans.
The main difference is that in the US there is huge variation among cards. To be honest, I couldn't tell you the APR on my two main credit cards (I think they're about 13-15%, as I never pay it due to monthly pay-in-full. I do know what interest rates are available to me should I (9.9% from a credit union credit card; 4.5% on a home equity line of credit (currently with a zero balance).
Originally Posted by
estnet
I hate them for MANY reasons - all related to abysmal customer service,
Actually, I find Amex CS to be fantastic.
Originally Posted by
estnet
increasing interest from 11% to 27% is obscene
This is indeed sort of bizarre. I haven't seen any increase notification for my account (at least yet), but it's interesting that multiple people are reporting this.
My theory:
This is a similar concept to the Amex "we'll pay you to close your card" deal for people with balances. Amex may hope that the high APR will cause people who carry balances to transfer their balances (and therefore their risk exposure) to other cards. Amex may sort of be returning to its charge card roots, where monthly pay-in-full is more desirable for them.
Just a thought.