The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

I never hesitated to recommend the Capital One credit card when any friend of mine would talk about how high their interest rates are on their credit cards. Prime + 1%: How can you beat that? It beat the line of credit rates TD Canada Trust was prepared to offer me. Their rate currently stands at 3.25%.

But in two months that's going to change. I got a letter in the mail today stating the rates are going up. It will now be 5.99% as a fixed rate for the next three years, then it changes to prime + 2.99% after that. Guess it was too good of a deal they were passing out to their customers. The reason for the increase was due to the "current economic climate". In other words, the interest rates in the economy aren't making enough millions of dollars for us, so we're sticking it to you.

I guess for a change with these credit card companies, I thought I was getting a great deal for once, and quite frankly I deserve it. Steady salaried job for 10 years. Never missed a payment. They ask ME to increase my credit limit so they can get more business off me. And this is the way they thank me.

A near 100% increase in my interest rate...and I have to admit though, the 5.99% rate they'll start to charge is still probably the best for a credit card that I know of. But still, it just shows you, when they figure out you're getting to big of a break, they'll catch up to you eventually and make sure they're maximizing their revenues.