MSE News: Credit card cheques terminated by MBNA

bondy01

It been on my to do list to write to them and get them to stop sending them every month. Saves me a stamp then. Thanks for the info.

Rupert_Bear

I use to find the promotional cheques very good and it is a pity because of a few people who cannot control their finances have spoilt it for everyone else.

However notice now on my statement I can still transfer at 0% with a 3% fee to another cc but if I want to transfer to my bank account it is now 4% fee.

Money_Man_Steve

Once a year may have been OK, but MBNA (owned by Bank of America) used to send me cheques for my Virgin credit card every 4-6 weeks, incessantly, until I asked them to stop.

I was concerned that someone would intercept my mail and use them fraudulently.

Still, MBNA seem to try anything to get people in to debt. From miniscule monthly payments of to offering a couple of months 0% on purchases, closely followed by a long term balance transfer deal - seems clearly intended to catch people out and trap higher rate balances on their accounts.

Non-savvy people need to be protected from this type of behaviour which encourages people to stay perpetually in debt.

chattychappy

Money_Man_Steve wrote: »

Non-savvy people need to be protected from this type of behaviour which encourages people to stay perpetually in debt.

Non-savvy people should become savvy or don't take credit.

Meanwhile I think the rest of us need to be protected from you.

Money_Man_Steve

chattychappy wrote: »

Non-savvy people should become savvy or don't take credit.

Some people rely on credit to get themselves through difficult times; after losing a job for example. They may not be able to apply for the best credit deals. You seem to endorse the view that it is right for companies to be permitted to make excess profit from these peoples' misfortunes.

chattychappy wrote: »

Meanwhile I think the rest of us need to be protected from you.

Meaning what, exactly?

CannyJock

Money_Man_Steve wrote: »

Some people rely on credit to get themselves through difficult times; after losing a job for example. They may not be able to apply for the best credit deals. You seem to endorse the view that it is right for companies to be permitted to make excess profit from these peoples' misfortunes.

It's a tough call this. Circumstances can put anyone in a potentially bad position, like losing your job. How bad a position you ultimately end up in depends on the choices you make and the choices you've previously made. A credit card is only designed at best for "affordable spending" and "short-term borrowing" - you only need to look at the APR on them to see that.

Most financial institutions make significant profits (except when they're dumping potentially toxic assets from their balance sheet), it's the nature of the business they are in. Whether or not you feed their profits depends entirely on how you decide to use the facilities they offer.

I'd agree that excessive interest rate hikes when people are struggling to make payments can be seen as unfair, but there is now a simple mechanism to deal with this. Ultimately, if you don't like the system, you're not obliged to use it - there is always an alternative, even if it's a much tougher option.

Bargainetta

I hated these cheques. I managed to get them stopped but only for a while. I was always worried about the security issue as some of my post has been stolen before.