As the economic crisis continues, credit card holders carrying Chase credit cards are going to be in even worse condition. This month, Chase has just announced that they will be raising their minimum amount per month to 5%, up three points from the former 2%. Thousands of Chase credit cards are being affected by this worrying increase.
The increase seems minor to many observers and, in fact many Chase credit card holders will probably consider it as a mere annoyance instead of something serious like an interest rate or fee increase. However, for a select segment of Chase credit card holders, the effects of the increase are very disturbing.
The particular segment most troubled by the increase in minimum payment rates are those Chase credit card holders who are carrying large credit card balances and who are maintaining a very tight budget.
Chase customers who call up the company are usually told that the policy change is due to the economic slow down. Customers who tried to get Chase to lower their monthly payments were told that, while it is possible to negotiate a lower amount, Chase would increase their interest rate by several percentage points. Some customers report a rise to 21.99% from an original interest rate of 3.9%.
While Chase claims that the increase in minimum payments is due to the economic difficulties, an analysis from Consumeraffairs.com based on customer complaints show that the change has little to do with the credit ratings of Chase credit cardholders or how long their customers have been with them. Instead, the most common denominator among Chase credit cardholders complaining about their recently increased minimum payments is that they all mentioned that they took advantage of a promotion from Chase which offered a fixed rate at a very low amount. The offer was also given an extended time period.
There is a possibility that Chase is increasing the minimum monthly payment of their customers who have interest rates that are fixed and relatively low in order to increase collection of their low-interest profits. This will presumably be then rolled into loans with larger interest rates. Like most credit card companies nowadays, Chase probably wants to increase their profits now before the rulings of the credit card bill come into play.
Unfortunately, many Chase credit card holders are getting caught in a pinch. They have to contend with higher monthly minimum payments. If they want to keep their current monthly payments, they will have to deal with a much higher interest rate.