Locked: Are All Of You Paying Ridiculous Fees With VISA?

superfresh89 wrote: ↑ I've never paid a dollar of interest on a credit card in my life. Doesn't matter what the rate is.

It's nice to think it will never matter to you, but it can.

I've never deliberately carried a balance on a credit card, but:
- A couple of times there have been accidents, e.g., where a family member screwed up on a secondary card, or there was a distracting emergency just around the time I should have been paying off the monthly bill.
- A couple of times the credit card turned out to be the easiest way to get foreign cash when traveling overseas, and it took a day or two for the correspond payment to catch up.

So I don't like to see outrageous interest rates on my credit cards even if I never plan to use them.

Currently most TD credit cards (including the ones I have) charge 20% on purchases and 23% on cash advances. My BMO Mastercard is the same. Like every other product offered by Canadian banks, that creeps up year by year. It used to be 18% on everything for the same cards.

nmclean wrote: ↑ One time a bank offered me $15 to set up preauthorized bills through my credit card, which happened to have a balance transfer promo on it at the time. So I purposely carried a balance at 20% on top of the balance transfer until it expired a couple months later, racking up $0.28 of interest. Should I hand in my membership card?

You sir, should be issuing the cards.

dont think people here cares if interest rate of CC is 3% or 30% or 3000%

airodyssey wrote: ↑ Did you miss a payment recently (or make a payment after the due date)?

If yes: most credit card issuers reserve the right to increase your rate, usually 5%, if you miss a payment. Check your cardholder agreement. For example, TD Cash Back Visa has this clause on their agreement:
https://www.tdcanadatrust.com/document/ ... 122_EN.pdf (page 5)

If no: call the phone number on the letter or on the back of your card and ask for an explanation.

OP's disappeared, but it'll be interesting to see the answer.

TD Cardholder Agreement wrote:If we do not receive the Minimum Payment within 30 days
from the Payment Due Date shown on your statement then:
a) The annual interest rate(s) that applies to the Account
will go up 5%;

"I missed my minimum payment and TD's raising my rate on the card I'm carrying a balance on. This is outrageous!"

imflying12 wrote: ↑ do you carry balances? This is irrelevant if you pay it off the entire balance by the due date

Yes I do but not because Im a deadbeat or lack money, Its because Im busy and miss the deadline. But they were usurious right from the get go though. The only reason I have Visa is because I dont want to rely only on my Mastercard and I dont like to carry cash around. Its beautiful just to tap and pay everything in one shot each month.

Thanks everybody for the replies.

MusicBox wrote: ↑ Yes I do but not because Im a deadbeat or lack money, Its because Im busy and miss the deadline. But they were usurious right from the get go though. The only reason I have Visa is because I dont want to rely only on my Mastercard and I dont like to carry cash around. Its beautiful just to tap and pay everything in one shot each month.

Thanks everybody for the replies.

I've been there and before I had a system, I missed bill payments as well.

I recommend setting a recurring reminder on your phone 1 week before each bill. Have it ping you to check your credit card balances. We're all busy, but you'll find that having a system helps greatly. You're right that they're usurious, but they're also giving you an INSTANT loan that waives all interest for 21–52 days from the purchase date.

I maintain a spreadsheet so that I don't miss canceling cards before their AF hits. It is color coded and changes color as the anniversary approaches. I also specifically pay credit card bills as soon as the mail-out comes in and specifically do NOT sign up for online-billing as I miss emails all the time. I then rip a corner of the bill to indicate that I've paid it.

MusicBox wrote: ↑ Yes I do but not because Im a deadbeat or lack money, Its because Im busy and miss the deadline. But they were usurious right from the get go though. The only reason I have Visa is because I dont want to rely only on my Mastercard and I dont like to carry cash around. Its beautiful just to tap and pay everything in one shot each month.

Thanks everybody for the replies.

You probably have in your pocket a $1000 device that has a calendar feature on it. "I'm Busy" is just another way of saying that you're disorganized.
I pay every bill on time because if I'm late on a payment, I lose money and no matter how busy I am (I own my own company) losing money is not an option.

UrbanPoet wrote: ↑ I dont really carry a balance on my cc.
When things get hairy i use a line of credit at a much much lower interest rate.

Im not into borrowing, Im into using the credit card as plastic money. LOC means nothing to me if there isn't a "tap" card attached to it so I can get gas at Petro-Canada by tapping.

atomiton wrote: ↑ I've been there and before I had a system, I missed bill payments as well.

I recommend setting a recurring reminder on your phone 1 week before each bill. Have it ping you to check your credit card balances. We're all busy, but you'll find that having a system helps greatly. You're right that they're usurious, but they're also giving you an INSTANT loan that waives all interest for 21–52 days from the purchase date.

I maintain a spreadsheet so that I don't miss canceling cards before their AF hits. It is color coded and changes color as the anniversary approaches. I also specifically pay credit card bills as soon as the mail-out comes in and specifically do NOT sign up for online-billing as I miss emails all the time. I then rip a corner of the bill to indicate that I've paid it.

LOL now I just discovered that my online BMO banking app has a feature that can make a recurring payment to anybody or any card I register on the app, I can set whatever date of the month and how much I want it to pay each payee. I would had avoided lots of problems.

MusicBox wrote: ↑ LOL now I just discovered that my online BMO banking app has a feature that can make a recurring payment to anybody or any card I register on the app, I can set whatever date of the month and how much I want it to pay each payee. I would had avoided lots of problems.

Recurring payment’s one option. Some card issuers also allow you to set up “autopay” so either the minimum payment or full statement balance get withdrawn from your bank on or before the due date. With a bank-issued credit card sometimes it has to be from an account at their bank though.

Some of my cards send me an email when payment is due. Usually 5-7 days before due date

MusicBox wrote: ↑ Im not into borrowing, Im into using the credit card as plastic money. LOC means nothing to me if there isn't a "tap" card attached to it so I can get gas at Petro-Canada by tapping.

Obviously you should aim to always have your cards paid fully and on time, but if you must borrow, BMO has a LOC that links to your Mastercard debit card. I think you can even set it as your default account for tap. Scotiabank also has a LOC that links to a separate Visa credit card. The rate on a LOC should be much lower than your current "low" rate of 12.99%.

However once the late payment is taken care of and you get a handle on the payment schedule, you should actually be using your TD card all the time, even if you're "borrowing". Because if you have a LOC as backup, you can just pay the credit card bill (on time) directly from the LOC when you can't afford it. Only ever borrow from the LOC, never from TD at 25% or whatever.

MusicBox wrote: ↑ Im not into borrowing, Im into using the credit card as plastic money. LOC means nothing to me if there isn't a "tap" card attached to it so I can get gas at Petro-Canada by tapping.

Hate to break it to you, but by carrying a balance and not making your payments, you're effectively borrowing money.

The interest rate is irrelevant if you're paying in full on time. You're apparently too busy to do so and consequently paying a high price for the convenience of being able to tap your card at Petro-Canada. On top of that high price, you've also damaged your credit score which will make it harder to be approved for credit elsewhere for the time being.

For future reference, debit cards issued by most of the major banks also allow you tap at the pump and have the funds taken directly from your chequing account. All the convenience of tapping without the labourious requirement of paying your bills on time! Sounds like a win for you.

If you’re constantly paying your bill late, to the extent that TD is raising your interest to the not so standard rates, you’d be better off just using debit and cancelling your credit card.
You’re losing more money in interest charges and whatever associated fees, than you’ll ever earn in rewards.
Not to mention you’re probably ruining your credit.

sherman51 wrote: ↑ You probably have in your pocket a $1000 device that has a calendar feature on it. "I'm Busy" is just another way of saying that you're disorganized.
I pay every bill on time because if I'm late on a payment, I lose money and no matter how busy I am (I own my own company) losing money is not an option.

Life is hard for some...

User455957 wrote: ↑ TD is kinda like a bank for subprime lending to people that really can't get credit. Usually interest rates will go up for people who miss payments or have shitty credit

A more accurate way to state this is:

• Carrying debt on credit cards should only be done if you can't get a cheaper form of debt (i.e. line of credit, equity loan)
• People who can't get a form of debt other than credit cards are defacto bad credit risks and the higher rates of interest are justified.

The same justification applies to pay day lenders - you only go to pay day lenders if you can't qualify for more credit card credit, which is one level further down in the hierarchy from above.

BiegeToyota wrote: ↑ Regardless of the usual RFD brag of being a savvy consumer, I am quite curious how can TD pull this 29.99% rate?

I thought there was a limit to how much interest you can charge. This is no better than being a loan shark and not a bank.

Interest rates are used to price the risk. If your debt is seen as a higher risk then the rate is higher to compensate the lender for taking that risk.

If you consider the rate too high and you have other options, you'll go for the cheaper options. Some lenders specialize in certain types of debt and may be a better fit for you.

If you don't have other options, you're probably a high credit risk.

If lenders aren't allowed to charge interest sufficient to justify the risk, then they just won't lend to you. That would happen if you tried to regular pay-day lending too stringently - many of them would just shut down because it wouldn't be worth the risk. Because if you're lending money to someone who's blown through their credit card limit and can't wait until their next paycheque, your losses are going to be rather large. If they declare bankruptcy, you're probably way down the list of priorities in getting your money back.

Pretty sure if you make the minimum payment it avoids the interest rate increase..

If you haven't figured it out yet Money lenders PREY on poor people!

If you don't want to get taken advantage of you need to know the rules of the game or don't play at all.

superfresh89 wrote: ↑ I've never paid a dollar of interest on a credit card in my life. Doesn't matter what the rate is.

Why is everybody so petrified of carrying a balance to next month and pay interest on it?

Lets see. If I carry a balance of 1,000 dollars to next month at 20% that would be $200 in a year. Divide that $200 ÷ by 12 months = about 18% or $18 dollars. Okay its a little stiff I will admit but if its an emergency carryover its not that bad as long as you dont make it a habit every month.

I do have a LOC unsecure BTW with BMO. Im going to ask how I can link that to my BMO mastercard.