(10-27-2009 08:04 AM)mlb Wrote: (10-26-2009 07:52 PM)DrTorch Wrote: Yeah, I have to agree.
I didn't like the fact that they tried to hide it a bit. Still, every person should be expected to do some due diligence.
Fully agree, but I will say that this is the kind of thing that raises the ire of politicians (right or wrong, it happens). This bank is just asking for the government to get involved with regulating them by raising eyebrows.
At some point they have to play the game... you don't want to bring attention of this kind, IMO.
Of course, at the end of the day, if you need to have an 80% interest rate due to your risk, you probably should just not give out loans to those people.
Good points.
I guess I'm waffling a bit. The interest rate is one thing, but after reading about all those other fees, I get pretty steamed.
Sure, the people who get this card pay a penalty for poor past decisions. But, when you ping them for every service,
even making their payments, then you've crossed a line. You're keeping people in poverty. It's the same w/ payday loan companies.
These things hurt a society. Yes the poor should make better decisions, but preying on the poor is not healthy either.
And while I can understand how gov't intrusion is a bad thing, it's clear that a healthy society needs some way to deal with these issues.
In the end, I'm not a libertarian, nor even a conservative. My world view (including economics) is Christian. These practices don't fit in a Christian world view (read Deuteronomy*) so I oppose them. And even libertarians should oppose them, because as you pointed out, they're making it easy to get the government over-involved.
*The more I read Deuteronomy, the more I think that those laws are brilliant. Some of them generate a knee-jerk reaction of "that won't work," or "that's not fair." But I think when applied correctly, they lead to a healthier society than we've seen in many places. Brilliant.