[mattduke]

The government moves to hurt cardholders who pay their balance every month.

Banks, which oppose the legislation, will need to make up the cost somewhere, and cardholders who pay off their balance in full each month could see new annual fees and lucrative rewards programs canceled. Credit could become harder to come by too.

link

[VMarcHart]

Credit could become harder to come by too.

Whereas it will make it difficult for a lot of people, however, when one learns to live within its limits, it's one less thing to worry about. I speak from experience.

[yesec9]

Great, more of the same Bailouts being put on the backs of the responsible...We are headed in the wrong direction no doubt.

[Schmuto]

Come on Matt Duke.

Nobody needs to have a credit card. We all lived without them a mere 40 years ago.

Further, to the extent you want one, there are countless no-annual fee cards from which to choose.

I can't believe anybody could look at this as sticking it to savers.

[mattduke]

Come on Matt Duke.

Nobody needs to have a credit card. We all lived without them a mere 40 years ago.

Further, to the extent you want one, there are countless no-annual fee cards from which to choose.

I can't believe anybody could look at this as sticking it to savers.

I pay cash.

[dinopello]

Come on Matt Duke.

Nobody needs to have a credit card. We all lived without them a mere 40 years ago.

Further, to the extent you want one, there are countless no-annual fee cards from which to choose.

I can't believe anybody could look at this as sticking it to savers.

I pay cash.

Senator Durbin wants discounts for cash payers

Democratic Senator Richard Durbin plans to introduce a measure allowing retail stores and restaurants to offer discounts to customers who pay with cash instead of a credit card. The measure is expected to be introduced in the Senate during debate on credit card reform legislation offered Monday by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd.

mattduke, exerting his control over the senate...

[jasonraymondson]

I use to have a credit card and cut it up, I do have a card now that I preload encase I need one. It cost some money, but nothing on the level of a credit card.

I also don't have a cell phone, use any wireless service, or own a car which features monitoring services and never will.

If it wasn't for my web design gigs and my love of chatting in forums to complete strangers I could almost say I was off the grid.

[smallpoxgirl]

Schumer was pimping this idea last time Bernake appeared before the banking subcomittee.

[z28colt]

According to a mainstream article that I read (can’t remember which), 50 million people in the US pay their credit cards on time every month. I would imagine that most of those people are like me, using the cards for the convenience and the rewards, but completely unwilling to pay anything for the cards. If the credit card companies start to charge annual fees or immediate interest, I imagine most of those people will move away from credit cards. I know I will. This will only serve to increase the overall risk to the credit card companies, who will in turn demand a higher reward for the additional risk, leading to more trouble for those who do not currently pay their bills every month.

Also, I wonder how this would affect internet/travel sales, which all depend heavily on credit cards.

[dinopello]

According to a mainstream article that I read (can’t remember which), 50 million people in the US pay their credit cards on time every month. I would imagine that most of those people are like me, using the cards for the convenience and the rewards, but completely unwilling to pay anything for the cards. If the credit card companies start to charge annual fees or immediate interest, I imagine most of those people will move away from credit cards. I know I will. This will only serve to increase the overall risk to the credit card companies, who will in turn demand a higher reward for the additional risk, leading to more trouble for those who do not currently pay their bills every month.

Also, I wonder how this would affect internet/travel sales, which all depend heavily on credit cards.

My bank debit card would satisfy most of my needs for electronic payment. The thing credit cards do is provide some level of protection when buying something if there is a dispute or fraud. I've used the ability to hold payment to a vendor on more than one occassion. There are also other options such as paypal etc.

[highlander]

I pay cash.

Do you fly (using commercial airlines)? If sao, how do they look at you when paying for your tickets with cash. Same for hotel and rental cars.

[smallpoxgirl]

In all fairness, it is pretty screwy this whole idea that people are tripping over themselves A: loan you money, B: take all the risk for fraudulent charges, C: take care of all the accounting and billing, and D: not charge you anything for it as long as you pay the bill at the end of the month. I've also had credit cards where the issuer suddenly jerked the interest rate up to 29% and it sucks. Giving people 45 days notice doesn't seem like that much of an imposition on the issuer.

[Schmuto]

A discount for cash has been forbidden by the CC companies for a long time.

My understanding is that the vendors are obligated to charge the same price for cash or CC or visa et al won't let them be clients.

I can't believe that the CC companies will allow this to go through. This is just lip service by dirtdag c---suckers like Dodd who are the bankers' whores.

Many vendors would offer a cash discount that went beyond the CC cut.

Not only do you save having to pay the CC their %, but you remove all threat of people calling up the card company to stop payments.

In this down economy, if they offered even a 2% discount the CC companies would take a beating.

[IgnoranceIsBliss]

I recently booked a motel for a trip we have to take this summer to see my in-laws (they refuse to come to us & have not even seen our youngest son). I called around and many places are offering posted rates with a small disclaimer stating that the prices shown have been discounted 5% for cash. (so if you show up and want to charge it, add 5% to the rates). I had to mail a personal check for the deposit. This is in New Jersey.

Weird. Anyway, I recently closed my Capital One account after they jacked the rate up to something like 20% for no reason. Our USAA card has a 7% rate, so we will use that. I have had nothing but good experiences with USAA. (used to feel that way about Captial One too!)

Seems like responsible folks will stop using their credit cards and the only accounts left will be high risk. If banks start charging high annual user fees, that will lead to cancellations by responsible folks. All together, it leads to less consumer spending. Not good for the economy, but it forces us to change our spending habits and stop buying all that junk.

[Dreamtwister]

I've got no problem with them charging any fees or interest rates they want for credit cards.

What I do have a problem with, is that I am forced to have a credit card if I want to rent a car, stay at a hotel, fly or make large purchases (because it's now a precrime to carry large amounts of cash).

[jdmartin]

I use credit cards for two reasons:

1. Pay all my regular expenses with a cash-back card. I've made well over $1000 in the past few years off of cash-back cards without paying them a dime in interest. I look at it as getting my money back after lean years of paying interest

2. Paying for an online and/or major purchase for the warranty and/or fraud protection, rather than having the hassle of paying cash and then fighting to get my money back.

I would *never* use the debit card as a credit card. You've transferred the risk of fraud from Citibank's bank accounts to your bank account. I once had a several hundred dollar fraudulent charge made on my debit card years ago when the debit "visa" first started. It took me months to get my money back and, while I got it back, it caused a few checks to bounce (this was back in the leaner, hand-to-mouth years ). The bank reimbursed me on *their* bounced check fees, but none of the businesses did. In the meantime, I did not have access to that money.

Better to make Citibank take the risk than me. Now, if they end the cash-back programs and/or start trying to charge an annual fee, that'll be the end of it for me. I like paying cash, but I do a detailed monthly household budget, and the credit card statement makes it easy to check off expenditures each month. I suspect at some point they'll cancel me, since they get no interest from me, but I'll ride that horse until then...

[smallpoxgirl]

A discount for cash has been forbidden by the CC companies for a long time.

That's incorrect. Under the Visa and Mastercard merchant services agreements you are allowed to give cash discounts and you are allowed to charge a surcharge for debit cards. What you are not allowed to do is charge a surcharge for credit cards. Unfortunately Visa and Mastercard are sometimes fairly lax about enforcing the merchant services agreement. There is a chain of gas stations around here that charges a credit card service charge routinely and has for several years. I keep meaning to file a formal complaint with Visa, but then I get lazy and put it off.

[yesplease]

Why would someone who saves even use a credit card? Isn't the point of saving not to use credit, and vice versa?

[AAA]

Why would someone who saves even use a credit card? Isn't the point of saving not to use credit, and vice versa?

Are you kidding??? I can borrow up to $25,000 and not have to pay it for 30 days. And they don't charge me interest for those 30 days. Plus they give me free airline tickets every 3 months or so depending on how much I spend.

All for paying $35/year.

I love credit cards and have never paid the Credit Card Company more than the $35/year fee.

[yesplease]

Why would someone who saves even use a credit card? Isn't the point of saving not to use credit, and vice versa?

Are you kidding??? I can borrow up to $25,000 and not have to pay it for 30 days. And they don't charge me interest for those 30 days. Plus they give me free airline tickets every 3 months or so depending on how much I spend.

All for paying $35/year.

I love credit cards and have never paid the Credit Card Company more than the $35/year fee.

Borrowing up to $25,000 isn't saving, it's borrowing, and no I'm not kidding. I still don't see how something that only applies to borrowers is a strike against savers. Granted, it could be a strike against the thrifty, who cycled money through cards in order to get the benefits, but credit card use by definition is borrowing, not saving, so I don't see how it impacts bonafide savers.