Chase Minimum Payment Increased To 5%, Now What?

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62 Comments

1. 

   Michelle
   

   June 26, 2009, 9:44

   
   

   I read this story over at Consumerist, too and the problem for Greg was that he consolidated multiple cards onto the Chase card, chasing the low interest rate. You can’t from the spare information available in the post determine how much he was paying per month, only that it was less than the newly required and unmake-able minimum, nor can you say what other obligations the household has. Yes, making a stringent budget might free up the necessary cash to meet the new, higher minimum, but the point of the post, to me, was that Chase truly marketed their card products to consolidate higher-interest debts – encouraging higher balances and growing their customer base who ‘assumed’ their terms would not be changed in this way…And if this was the case, it is highly unlikely Greg was riding the high balance, only paying the minimum. If he continued to pay $372+ per month as the minimum dropped with the balance (and it’s at 5.9%, not 19 as you suggest), that $18K debt would be paid off in 60 months with a total interest paid of $2800. That’s just like a LOT of car loans – and better interest than a lot of consumers can get! Now Chase has forced the issue for many, many consumers – and when they are late or make less than the new minimum, here comes the late fees and higher interest rates. That’s sick. I hope the backlash against Chase is a huge public relations nightmare, their cards get paid off and accounts closed by the consumers and other cc companies take this reaction to heart and don’t do the same on their customers – see this thread: http://www.consumeraffairs.com.....cards.html

   And for what it’s worth, I have no cc debt, I just think this choice of tactics should not be applauded by PF bloggers who don’t get the real-life issues at hand for the world of consumers affected by Chase’s decision.
2. 

   Pinyo
   

   June 26, 2009, 9:55

   
   

   Michelle, I want to set the record straight by saying that I don’t like Chase. I never like their practice about saying one thing then change their mind later on and causing consumers money. That’s simply unethical. And there was already a backlash once with their $10 monthly fee shenanigan.

   However, I do like the long-term implication of increasing the minimum payment on all credit cards. At the normal 2%, many consumers do not realize that they will owe that debt for a long long time and continue to get themselves further into debt. They also don’t realize how much they’ll be paying over the life of the loan. At least the higher minimum payment will serve as a wake up call for many cardholders. They will see the higher minimum payment and realize that it’s getting bigger and hopefully start using the card less. It will also automatically help them pay off the debt faster, saving them a lot of interest in the long run.

   As for Greg’s story, I don’t assume to know the detail. I am just using his case as an introduction to my article. The example is based on some assumptions as stated. My goal was to be able to show the math and the differences.
3. 

   Michelle
   

   June 26, 2009, 10:43

   
   

   I think I must have misunderstood your statement “Chase is doing their cardholders a big favor,” which my comment attempted to contradict. I believe Chase is doing this for their own bottom line, and many, many people are going to get hurt in the process. It would have been more helpful and a bigger favor for Chase to provide fore-warning to their customers or to take an incremental approach: instead of 3% all at once with less than 30 days to respond by adjusting your budget to ‘find’ and extra $600, an increase of 0.5% each quarter over 18 months bringing it to 5% would actually let people plan for the change. Even if I canceled cable, subscriptions, cell-plans, etc TODAY, July’s budget wouldn’t see a benefit – it would take til August or September for these to be processed and the extra money show up in the budget. This incremental approach would make the month-to-month change less than 100$ each jump (after the first) rather than making Greg find an extra $600 in his budget by his next due date. His total minimum payment would never go over $600 because the principle reduction by the time the min rate = 5% would keep it under. That approach I think would be a bigger ‘favor’ to consumers…

   I agree with your suggestions for getting such a card paid off are valid, but don’t you agree that teaching people the whys & hows of personal finance and credit management is more likely to be beneficial than hoping they will hurt enough under these new terms to learn their lesson?
4. 

   Pinyo
   

   June 26, 2009, 10:49

   
   

   Michelle, Thank you. I agree with you and that would be the best case scenario. Unfortunately, Chase never put their customers first (first hand experience on several occasions).

   I guess I could have done a better job at presenting my point. Thank you again for your feedback.
5. 

   Mark Seiler
   

   June 26, 2009, 11:10

   
   

   I understand the sentiment that this is a good thing, in the long run. Reducing CC debt is good.

   That said, we moved and consolidated $ onto Chase card over the years, and were locked into 2.99% for the life of the debts. So it was more of a loan for us, we did not make any new purchases. We had chipped our $60k down to $40k when this change took place. For us, our minimum payment of roughly $800 jumped to $2000. A $1200 dollar per month increase. We do not have the cash to afford to pay it off this quickly.

   We’ve had one of the accounts for $10+ years, and have never missed a payment. I called to see what we could do — and the Chase reps were sympathetic, but there is not really anything they could do to help.

   Is there a place we can lodge complaints ? What can we as consumers, and Chase customers do about this ? We feel helpless.

   I understand what Chase is trying to do — but shouldn;t existing debt stay on the same payment terms (2% of balance), and apply the new 5% to new purchases !?
6. 

   MLR
   

   June 26, 2009, 11:24

   
   

   I, like the above commenters, think it is a great idea to get rid of credit card debt.

   However, I do not think Chase is doing anyone favors. As the above commenter mentioned, his debt payment just went from $800/mo to $2,000/mo. That is a huge difference and I doubt many people could find that sort of money lying around. He clearly accepts responsibility for the debt and has made quite the progress in repaying the debt, so need for any “well its his fault for having the debt.”

   Chase will either lose those customers to another CC company or have to deal with a lot of bankruptcy claims if no CC companies will accept balance transfers from the higher debt customers.
7. 

   MoneyMateKate
   

   June 26, 2009, 11:49

   
   

   While I agree that having a higher minimum percentage due every month is a good idea (always thought 2% was ridiculous), I think they should have warned their customers and increased the minimum gradually, say by 1 percentage point every 3 months. There was a time when a move like this would have qualified a lot of folks for bankruptcy, but since they capped the income level at which you can do that (CC companies wanted their balances exempt from bankruptcy charge-off, but this is what they got instead), I’ll bet they’re doing this to their customers who are above that figure because of the low risk to them. I think we’re going to be seeing a lot of this nastiness in the next year because the new – and fairly minimal – rules for CC behavior don’t kick in until then. So right now it’s a case of Banks Gone Wild.
8. 

   Blue
   

   June 26, 2009, 12:02

   
   

   The author of this article either doesn’t know what they are talking about or they are a shill for the credit card industry. These increases in minimum payments are being made on balances that have very low life-of-balance interest terms. A two percent payment on these accounts makes significant progress towards reducing this amount.
9. 

   Michelle
   

   June 26, 2009, 12:02

   
   

   Mark – I would call Chase every single day on this topic, look for transfer opportunities – maybe your local bank or Credit Union for a signature loan, and I would call every agency & government official I think might take a call: BBB, FTC, Congress People (state & Fed govt) and so on. Make a stink. Otherwise, this will become a trend…A lot of people on that thread at consumeraffairs.com did just what you did – who wouldn’t be tempted to use a 2.99% cc like a consolidation credit line for $100K Student Loans when they were being offered at 7% through the Student Loan aggregators? I feel a lot of sympathy for the situation. Good luck!
10. 

    Pinyo
    

    June 26, 2009, 12:16

    
    

    @BLue – If you read my conversation with Michelle and is a regular reader of this blog, you wouldn’t make such a comment. I may not know the specific of this particular Chase deal, but 2% minimum payment is designed to keep cardholders in debt as long as possible and extract as much finance charges as possible.

    Also, trust me when I say I have no love for Chase.
11. 

    Loan Shark
    

    June 26, 2009, 15:06

    
    

    After unexpected medical bills and cut hours, I tried to do the right thing and took a second job.

    Our family was struggling on a tight budget, but we were making progress. Slow, I admit, but we were paying our debt. Never late. Never missed a payment. Climbing out from under to trouble that happened to us. Until this. Now, we have to come up with an extra $400 a month. I agree, this will pay the card off faster and was part of our plan going forward. Once we recovered enough to do so, next year by our “Debt snowball payoff plan”.

    Instantly, everything has changed. We must now default on this payment, which will trigger a huge increase on the Chase card and probably our other one. Debt consolidation or bankruptcy? We got into this mess because we transferred a loan to Chase’s much touted “low interest for the life of the loan”. Like many. MANY others their arbitrary decision has now turned us upside down.

    I’ve spent hours on the phone, and my choices with Chase were either to accept a hardship plan at 24% interest (from 4% to 24%…think about that) or, to go to a CCCS. They gave me their recommended CCCS, and after a little research I found this company has had it’s BBB membership revoked and had almost as many complaints against it as Chase.

    It’s just not right. We were paying off our debt. On time and by all the rules we signed up for. We were making it, and the future was looking better as we paid off more of the unexpected debt. Now we don’t know what we’ll do, except for let our dreams get flushed away because of someone’s greed.
12. 

    anoninri
    

    June 26, 2009, 22:04

    
    

    I think you misunderstand what Chase is doing.

    They are not imposing this minimum payment increase on people with 19.9% rates as you suggest. Rather, they are imposing it on people with LOW rates, like 2.9 or 3.9% fixed rates on promotional balance transfers. So even at a 2%/month minimum, those people are making real progress paying off the debt.

    What really shows that this is not “a favor” is this: Chase is giving people the option of keeping the 2% minimum, IF they allow their interest rate to be raised dramatically. I’ve seen 12.9% up to 19.9%. If you call to complain, they almost encourage you to take the interest rate increase and keep the 2% payment, which is of course exactly the OPPOSITE of what would be in the consumer’s interest.

    Please, check out all the facts here.
13. 

    Pinyo
    

    June 26, 2009, 22:19

    
    

    @Loan Shark – That’s a really sad story and I feel for you. As far as what to do to deal with your situation, I don’t have any better idea to offer. You may want to try posting our situation in Moolanomy Answers and see if you can get additional ideas from there.

    @anoninri – Thank you for the clarification. When I wrote the article, I didn’t have all the information and used typical interest rate to drive home the point about how minimum payment prolongs your debt and causes you to pay more interest.

    With your explanation, my distaste for Chase as an organization just grow by tenfolds. From all the things I have read about them and from interacting with them as a customer, their actions are despicable.

    Here’s my own story with Chase. For some reasons, Chase manages to send me the “late fee” notice, but their monthly statement was missing. When I call to complain, they rudely dismiss me and said if the late fee notice made it, I should have the statement as well. Other companies like Discover and Citibank are a lot more helpful with situations like this, but not Chase.
14. 

    DivorcedDadFrugalDad
    

    June 28, 2009, 10:40

    
    

    Solid advice– there will be many people rebudgeting. I agree that in some ways increasing the minimums does the card holders a favor.
15. 

    Rhonda
    

    June 28, 2009, 21:30

    
    

    Here is a link to the FTC where you can complain about Chase. Be sure to put Chase!!!!

    https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en#last

    Also, found this site about a Class Action Lawsuit against them:

    http://www.girardgibbs.com/chase.asp
16. 

    Jenni
    

    June 29, 2009, 15:16

    
    

    I’m a Chase credit card holder hit with the minimum increase that I can’t afford. I transferred high interest rate balances for the low interest life of the balance offer. Chase has specifically targeted these accounts – 4.99% and below for the life of that balance — with the rate increase.

    For those of us affected — please do as Rhonda suggests and also the following:

    1. Contact the FTC and file a complaint (see Rhonda’s post for link)

    2. Write your senators and congress

    3. Contact local news stations (your local government DOES have an interest here because you won’t be putting dollars into the local economy anymore (but paying to Chase) state and local sales tax revenues will be affected.

    4. Write James Dimon, Chairman & CEO, JPMorgan Chase & Co., 270 Park Ave., New York, NY 10017-2070 (and also cc: the Board Members at the same address)
17. 

    Ted Blazer
    

    June 29, 2009, 16:07

    
    

    Here is a link for the contact info of Chase executives:

    http://consumerist.com/5010379.....chase-ceos

    I think we should all contact them to complain.

    BTW, a Chase ceo told Congress in 2007 that when they change the terms they offer consumers an “opt out” deal. There is no opt out available with this recent scam.
18. 

    Pinyo
    

    June 30, 2009, 9:18

    
    

    @Rhonda, Jenni, and Ted – Thank you for the additional information. Very valuable. Thank you.
19. 

    KD
    

    June 30, 2009, 15:30

    
    

    anoninri says “Chase is giving people the option of keeping the 2% minimum, IF they allow their interest rate to be raised dramatically. I’ve seen 12.9% up to 19.9%. If you call to complain, they almost encourage you to take the interest rate increase and keep the 2% payment, which is of course exactly the OPPOSITE of what would be in the consumer’s interest.”

    Boy, I wish I got that person when I called. I even suggested this scenario and was told they could not do it. I told them they were pushing me in to BK and she just said “sorry”. This was the supervisor….the 1st lady I talked to said the reason they were doing this was the bank was not in as good of shape as it was when they made the lower interest loans and were needing to get rid of them. Something tells me that was closer to the truth than the “OCC” blurb the supervisor told me. I, too, like so many others fell for the “life of loan low interest rates” and now paying for something I felt was a prudent thing to do at the time. I think I will do as someone else suggested, and just call on a daily basis, maybe I can get someone to help me!
20. 

    Alfred Segman
    

    July 1, 2009, 21:14

    
    

    Chase made a deal — low interest for the life of the loan, so i borrowed and bought a house. Now they demand I pay 5% of the balance a month instead of 2% with no opt-out option (so I can’t close the account). This is simply dishonest, as well as unethical. If you know of a class action lawsuit, please count me in.
21. 

    Pam
    

    July 2, 2009, 7:11

    
    

    Well, I got the double whammy this week. First I got the Chase min payment increase letter, then today I got a letter from Bank Of America letting me know that the fixed 8.9 purchase rate I’ve had for 8 years has now become a variable rate. Will the fun never end????

    Just like everyone else hit with this stuff I have excellent FICO, no late payments, etc. Was told by both banks that my credit had nothing to do with the changes, it’s the economic climate. I made a deal with the devil (Chase) to give up my fixed for life rate of 3.99 and 4.99 in exchange for accepting a fixed rate of 6.00, closing the account and paying it off. B of A I’m going to leave alone for now and start checking for better rates with local banks or credit unions. Then transfer everything I can.

    The Govt. made a big mistake by leaving a gap before the new laws take effect. Of course the banks are going to bleed people dry while they still can. People who pride themselves in how they handle their credit are made to feel like scum when they’ve done nothing wrong. So sad. So wrong.
22. 

    marge11
    

    July 4, 2009, 15:15

    
    

    There is a post on http://www.visioncredit.org/ch.....ervice-fee by a Chase employee, it is worth a read, even though it gets me mad all over again. #126

    Also check-out credit.about.com..There are many remarks about the hardship program…Buyer Beware…from the top of the page scroll down to Chase article and click on comments
23. 

    RA
    

    July 8, 2009, 15:38

    
    

    Has anyone else considered the possibility that even if you do take their “deal” and agree to the higher rate in exchange for keeping your 2% minimum payment, they could just turn around 6 months from now and hike your minimum back up to 5%, except now with a new higher rate? Sounds ludicrous, but I wouldn’t put anyting past them now.
24. 

    RA
    

    July 8, 2009, 16:04

    
    

    I just called Chase and asked a supervisor how this was legal. Their reply was that according to the cardmember agreement, they could change the terms at any time, and that if they wanted to, they could demand 100% of the balance in any given month. Nice.
25. 

    Pam
    

    July 8, 2009, 16:26

    
    

    RA…..interesting question about Chase changing the new agreement min payment later. I called Chase to ask (since I have one of these agreements), and for what it’s worth the rep said the agreement is a fixed rate and a fixed payment amount for 60 months, therefore the min payment can not be changed, unless you default. But I’m sure they’ll find a way if they need to.
26. 

    Alessandro Machi
    

    July 9, 2009, 4:35

    
    

    I wrote an entire website devoted to the issue of higher monthly minimum payments. http://www.credit-card-cap.com

    You are correct, accelerated monthly minimum payments make sense, however, it makes the most sense for BEGINNING credit card users so they never go too far into debt. The situation here is different.

    What Chase Bank is doing is different with the 2% to 5% raise in the monthly minimum payment is different, it is more of a scorched economy policy. Chase Bank customers are trying to pay down their Chase Bank low interest credit card loan at a steady pace while also paying down other higher interest rate debt as well.

    You are probably well aware that if one pays down their lowest interest rate card fastest, this will cause their higher interest rate debt to revolve month after month at higher levels since less is being allocated to pay down higher interest rate lowans because the consumer now has to deal with Chase Bank’s me first attitude toward their low interest rate debt.

    The ironic result is the consumer’s overall debt will either shrink at a slower rate, or could start to go up! By Chase Bank jumping to the front of the “pay me back first line”, they make the other banks look bad for being more tolerant of the bad economic cycle to their investors.

    The money is just not there for consumers to pay everybody back quickly, so for one bank to want an even bigger cut is very selfish and hurts the other banks who are trying to work with their customers.

    Chase Bank, won’t even allow an opt out option for their customers, which has always been a courtesy afforded the consumer in a civilized and educated society that believes in rule of law.

    Chase is exhibiting a narcissistic streak that is rivaled by none. In this economy, we need credit card companies offering incentives to pay down debt, not excuses to raise the interest rate to unheard of levels.
27. 

    Chris
    

    July 10, 2009, 12:11

    
    

    QUOTE: Chase Minimum Payment Increased To 5%, Now What?

    I 2nd Michelle

    I have Chase, I’ve been raped by the 2-5% hike, my apr is locked in at 4%, so guess what? It’s not substantially better for me in the long run. The banks are forcing the middle class into bankruptcy. The federal reserve is a joke and the banks win. So F*** us.
28. 

    Alessandro Machi
    

    July 10, 2009, 12:57

    
    

    Paying back lower interest rate debts slower, and higher interest rates faster, is the best way out of debt. Chase Bank’s policy is completely the opposite to this strategy, and therefore is anti American consumer and simply a Chase bank “me first” scorched economy attitude.

    Hey Chris, when Chase Bank says they are raising their monthly minimum payments on their low interest rate, life of the loan offers, they say it is tough love to help their customers get out of debt. What Chase Bank also appears to be saying is, enjoy your raping, it is good for you.
29. 

    Chris
    

    July 10, 2009, 13:32

    
    

    Precisely.
30. 

    Alessandro Machi
    

    July 10, 2009, 13:34

    
    

    Lets clarify Chase Bank. Chase Bank has raised the monthly minimum payment on 2 million of its most reliable, always pay on time customers by 150%. There are over 1,000 letters in less than the past six months from Chase Bank customers all over the country, legitimately freaked out about this.

    These people cannot afford a jump that is the equivalent of going from 300 dollars a month to 750 dollars a month, or 200 dollars a month to 500 dollars a month. Chase Bank will not even allow an opt out clause either.

    Please join my protest against Chase bank by taking a more active role in this mess. http://www.daily-protest.com and http://www.bloggersagainstchasebank.com
31. 

    JIMBO
    

    July 13, 2009, 20:41

    
    

    Chase is not doing me any favors. I have card balances w/ them totaling 11K which are locked in @ 3.99%. They just want there money back sooner. Just got off the phone w/ one of their supervisors … like talking to the wall. I thought I had seen some weaseally moves by Corporate America but this one takes the cake. First, shareholders of Chase get screwed out of billions of dollars … now Chase decides to screw some of their best paying card holders by increasing their monthly payments by 150% Smooth move Jamie Dimon … I hope your Yacht sinks
32. 

    SAB
    

    July 15, 2009, 11:34

    
    

    Another problem that doesn’t seem to be mentioned here is that when you can’t make that first 5% payment on your balance at 4.6% you become default even if you pay partial. Now your interest rate goes up to 24% and you will never be able to afford the required 5% minimum payment.

    I spoke with a Chase Branch manager this morning and he told me that this was mandated by the government and that every credit card company will have to do this same thing by September 5th of this year. If that’s the case then why are we only seeing complaints about Chase and not all of the other creditors out there?

    Can this be true that congress told all of the credit card companies to increase their minimum payment to 5%?
33. 

    Alessandro Machi
    

    July 15, 2009, 12:08

    
    

    I don’t think the government is that stupid. First time credit card users, I could see having a 5% monthly minimum payment, but to do it to those who already have debt and are already trying to reduce their debt, this just becomes another punishment style of program rather than using incentives.

    The most logical idea, in my opinion, is to waive all penalties, fees and interest rate charges on all credit card debt that is over 3 years old. Then, as the one trillion dollars in consumer credit card begins to shrink, we will see local economies and small businesses come back.
34. 

    Pam
    

    July 15, 2009, 22:54

    
    

    SAB…..

    I think the mgr. you spoke to may be referring to a recommendation the OCC (I think it was the OCC, but not sure) made a year or two ago that banks should raise min. payments to help comsumers get out of debt sooner. It was a suggestion, not a mandate. But of course the banks will make it work for them as a law. I saw the same thing qouted by other cust serv reps in other posts. The thing is, other banks will follow suit once they see how it goes for Chase.
35. 

    John
    

    July 22, 2009, 8:51

    
    

    The problem I have with this is that Chase raised the minimum payment from 2% to 5% on the two low interest (3.99%) cards I have with them. But, they did NOT raise the minimum payment on the 9.24% interest card I have with them. What they did instead was raise the interest rate on that card from 9.24% to 16.24%. So my problem now is that I had been paying extra on the higher interest rate card to pay that off, but now Chase is forcing me to payoff the lower interest rate cards first AND almost doubling the interest rate on the other card. Is that fair? No, it is pure greed on Chase’s part. They aren’t trying to help me payoff my debt quicker! They are just finding a way that they can make more money on the interest I pay them. This is a total ripoff and Chase should not be allowed to do this.
36. 

    Elizabeth
    

    July 22, 2009, 12:41

    
    

    As with the others, we are affected by this and are furious. We’ve been Chase customers for over 15 years, even financing our auto loans through them. When the “lock in at 3.99 for the life of the loan” offer came through 2 years ago, we consolidated a number of other loans (including, in a round about way, what we owed on the car we were still financing) and took out appx. $30,000. Mind you, this is our only debt beyond our mortgage. And we ALWAYS paid more than the minimum – closer to 3 to 3.5% and have made a significant progress toward paying off the principal. But with 4 teenagers (two now off to college) and ex-spouse out of a job and not paying child support, and my husband being forced to take an additional 2 weeks unpaid vacation (read: 4% salary cut) money is VERY tight. Our $750 a month (which we were paying about $1000) is now going to be closer to $1700 per month.

    So we called, and at Chase’s Cust. Svc. department’s suggestion wrote about our situation to a specific individual who was supposed to look at these cases individually. We asked that the percent of the balance be reduced to 3 or even 4%. Or that we would be willing to re-adjust to a ‘fair’ percent.

    Just got the response today from Jane Chresaidos, Financial Services Advisor, “the change in the terms notification that informed you of the increase to your minimum payment does not include an option to stop this change from occurring. We consistently review our business practices to ensure we provide valued services and remain competitive in the business. As noted in your Cardmember Agreement, we may change the terms associated with your account and will notify you of the change in writing in accordance with applicable law.” . . .

    and the kicker, “Althought the increase may seem difficult at first, the change will increase the amount of money that pays down your principal balance, resulting in less interest charges paid in the long term.”

    Gee . . . thanks for letter. I feel so much better now.

    Luckily we were planning on downsizing our house anyway (with two kids now off to college) and also have substantial retirement accounts to tap into if we cannot sell our house and will simply pay off the loan in full. We’ll make it, and will keep our excellent credit rating, despite Chase’s being completely unwilling to compromise on the repayment terms.

    But we will NEVER do business with Chase again. Nor will our children. These practices may be within the law, but they are unethical. “Provide valued services” my A**

    All the best to the rest of you.
37. 

    Taimur Jabbar
    

    July 25, 2009, 18:59

    
    

    In my opinion Chase is the biggest scam out there, from years of experience dealing with them. I opened a CC with them several years ago when I was a college student. At that time I had almost reached the limit on most of my credit cards to help pay for college. After I graduated and started a full-time job, I worked towards paying off all of my CC debt. I have never been late on my CC payment in my life and other companies even rewarded me by lowering my interest to help pay off my debt faster. What does Chase do … increase my APR because my high debt put me at risk of defaulting. I had that high balance with them for 2 years at that time and still making payments on time and this is how they treated me.

    After I paid off my Chase CC, I never used it again until a few years later when they offered me a low interest on balance transfer for the life of the balance. I moved most of my remaining debt back to Chase and now they increase my minimum payment to 5% to try to screw me. In the past they have used almost all tactics (like moving my due date to a week earlier than the usual due date) to make me miss one on-time payment so they can increase my APR. Seems like when they could not do anything about customers like me with low interest, this is what they do. The increase is something that I can still manage somehow but I really feel for people here whose payment went up by more than a $1,000.

    As someone pointed out in one of the comments, Chase never cares about its customers.
38. 

    Larjo
    

    August 1, 2009, 12:21

    
    

    First I wish to thank Pinyo for graciously providing this site to people to air their grievances against JP Morgan Chase bank. Next, let me tell you, Chase is not doing anybody a favor by raising their minimum payments on the low interest offers that millions of hard working, honest, and credit worthy families have taken advantage of. Most of these people will not be able to afford the increase and many will have no choice but to file for bankruptcy or default.

    Some will tap into their retirement and or savings. A few will be able to transfer their balances to other cards but beware…. you are still at risk of the new card raising their rates or reducing your credit limit or again, raising your minimum payment. Of course one can refinance their home loan if their home value has not fallen so low that you do not have enough equity to pay off Chase or even qualify.

    Chase is offering deals for a few people under their “Proactive Solutions” Plan, but again, beware, they have already shown that they can’t be trusted and who is to say that they wont try the same stunts again in the future. Now for the real reason they are doing this: Even though Chase bank is doing quite well now, thank you, the credit card division is losing lots of money due to the high default rate from people who have lost their jobs, fallen on hard times, etc. due to the tough economic climate. By getting their money back quicker from some of their best trustworthy customers they can turn around and re-loan it at much higher rates in order to raise the bottom line.

    Jamie Dimon may lack compassion and be without empathy but he is a very smart businessman and has a knack for duping politicians including our president. That is why the president only has kind words about him. As for help from your senators and representatives, forget it. They are in too deep with these banks because of the campaign contributions and other favors and also the V.I.P. programs. As the president himself said, “The banks are very powerful”. That’s why they made the deal with them to allow the window of opportunity before the new laws take effect. Had Mr. Dimon started the 5% minimum payments only on new charges he would have been helping his country by promoting better borrowing and payment habits while also making more profits by cutting down the default rate.
39. 

    Cindy Jones
    

    August 1, 2009, 16:57

    
    

    Chase doing us a “favor” by raising the minimum payment to 5%? Hell no. I took a transfer deal for a large sum of money at a very low rate by Chase, and I took it in good faith and have kept up my end of the deal. I have other cards and a mortgage at higher rates, and I have been paying those down faster. Then I get my letter from Chase, and I think, “Oh good, that must be my thank-you letter for the MIND-BOGGLING HUGE BAILOUT I PARTICIPATED IN GIVING THOSE FAT BASTARDS LAST FALL.” But no – now Chase thinks they can hike my minimum payment to an outrageous 5% per month – clearly a change in terms from the original agreement – which means I’m back to paying minimums on my HIGHER RATE loans, if I can afford them at all. That is doing me no favors. It’s nothing but a bait and switch, and a power grab by Chase. I’ll bet they want to raise a lot of cash quickly to take over other banks and become even more TOO BIG TO FAIL. Sorry, but that is too big NOT to fail, imho. Chase will fail, because they will literally “Chase” every last customer into default, bankruptcy or suicide with these nasty tricks. I’m doing my best to hang onto my job, stay current with my bills, and honor my obligations – why can’t Chase honor theirs?
40. 

    Alessandro Machi
    

    August 1, 2009, 19:11

    
    

    Cindy Jones, you rock! I have links set up on my site that can get you a free Google blog in less than one minute. I will gladly list you on my bloggers against chase bank.com blog site.
41. 

    Alessandro Machi
    

    August 1, 2009, 20:13

    
    

    Larjo, in other words Jamie Dimon is a me first, screw the country businessman that nobody, including Barack Obama, is willing to stand up to.
42. 

    Scott
    

    August 9, 2009, 10:58

    
    

    For what it’s worth to anyone, I just had great success simply calling Chase’s special customer support lines. I gave them quick info about income/expenses, and they said they would see what they could do. They came back and said they could lower the payment, by switching it to a 5 year repayment plan. They lowered my interest rate from 3.99% to 2% and also reduced the minimum payment back down to essentially 2%. The said I did have to close the account, which is of little hassle, considering I was simply using it to pay down the balance anyway. I’m very satisfied with how Chase handled my matter and will continue doing business with them.
43. 

    Scott
    

    August 9, 2009, 10:59

    
    

    I also forgot to mention, the special customer support line which was incredibly successful was 8778902941.
44. 

    Alessandro Machi
    

    August 9, 2009, 12:23

    
    

    Hi Scott, it appears Chase Bank will accomodate the 5% of their customers who will go online to see what their options are. However, for those who don’t get on a computer or know to ask the right question when the call in to the customer service department, those people are in for a possible financial hurting.

    Chase Bank’s solution is still costing you money IF you have other high interest rate debt. Because the payment stays the same month after month, you STILL will have less money to pay off other higher interest rate debts.

    Chase’s position is they only care about your debt with them, they can’t take into consideration if you are trying to pay off higher interest rate debt with other banks.
    That is an ironic and selfish position to take since Chase has reserved the right to raise your rate if they find you missed payments on other accounts with other banks!

    So, it is ok for Chase Bank to raise their interest rate to customers that misses a payment on another account with another bank, but if a customer would prefer to keep the terms as they are with Chase Bank because they are trying to pay off a higher interest rate card elsewhere first, Chase says that is irrelevant.

    What is relevant is Chase did not allow the customer the right to opt out of the change in terms. Did you know that ALL banks allow opting out over 98% of the time? Maybe as high as 99%. That is how rare Chase bank’s actions are.

    I don not know if it is a good idea to talk nicely about a bank just because they only hit you a couple of times after they have told you you are their punching bag and you can’t do anything about it.

    If Chase bank wants to make nice, they need to APOLOGIZE for the unnecessary stress they have caused a million customers and ARE causing their customers, customers whose biggest “crime” was to never be late on their payment to Chase Bank!

    Chase bank should then send out an OFFER IN WRITING TO ALL OF THOSE WHO ARE AFFECTED by the change in terms, along with the right to opt out if people want to just keep what they have.

    If that does not get enough people to accelerate paying down their low interest rate debt at a faster rate, than Chase Bank needs to offer an INCENTIVE to get people to accept the offer that you took out of FEAR.

    Chase could offer an incentive such as, convert your low interest rate account to the five year plan AND receive a 100 dollar gift card every 6 months.

    Chase bank has stolen from you by FORCING YOU to convert your favorable deal with them into an accelerated deal that favors Chase more WITHOUT giving you anything tangible in return. If you have other higher interest rate credit card debt, you will end up paying more in interest on those other cards because you can’t pay them down as fast because of the money that will be allocated to Chase Bank.

    I’m glad Chase Bank is doing something, but that may be because of the public pressure put on by the media and the various websites that have been pounding at Chase Bank for the past several months.

    http://www.consumeraffairs.com.....cards.html
    http://www.daily-protest.com
    http://www.robotsagainstchase.com
    http://www.bloggersagainstchase.com
    http://www.changeinterms.com
45. 

    JK
    

    August 14, 2009, 12:12

    
    

    Call chase on 877-890-2941, Portray your financial situation as currently making ends meet (monthly mortgage, rent, car payment, other credit cards against take home pay) before they raised your minimum payment increase to 5%. Request a fixed monthly payment for 5 years while agreeing to close the account (this will only slightly reduce your credit score as it closes one of your lines of open credit, but will be listed as “customer closed account” on your credit report.) I read this on another site and did today. Took me 5 minutes. This basically took my monthly payment back down to where it was, while reducing my interest rate by 1%. THIS ROCKS.
46. 

    Pam
    

    August 17, 2009, 17:55

    
    

    When I originally got my 2% to 5% payment increase letter in June, I worked my way through several reps and call centers to eventually end up at Proactive Solutions. At that time they offered me the 6% fixed, pay off in 5 year plan. Then I got a letter from them saying they couldn’t legally change my APR to 6%, so it would be 2% instead. I think I got my letter in the first round that went out and they weren’t sure what they were doing at that time with the Proactive Solutions plans. It makes sense that they couldn’t change my rate to 6% because the original fixed rate was 3.99. I questioned that when I made the original call, but they blew me off then. I saw on other boards that other people were getting the 2% letter after making a deal at a higher rate, and then everybody was being offered 2% when they made their first call. Wonder if Chases legal dept. caught it or if someone called them on it?
47. 

    Alessandro Machi
    

    August 17, 2009, 18:12

    
    

    JK, as long as you don’t have other credit card interest obligations at higher rates, what you got rocks. I just find it ironic that for some (not all, but for some)Chase Bank customers who do have other interest rate obligations at higher interest rates, even this offer will cost them MORE than the 10 dollar a month fee would have cost because it still forces them to pay off this card at a possibly faster rate than their higher interest rate debt.
48. 

    CB
    

    August 30, 2009, 6:59

    
    

    I read a one-sided view in this story, sorry if I lost the contrasting view with the indebtedness (no pun) as the fore.

    If a bank makes the payments so out of reach for the consumer, a once responsible consumer that always met their end of the bargain by making the payments that they were supposed to make, on time and with no variations will not look at this as the bank becoming irresponsible on the banks end.

    This will have a backlash on the banking industry. How so you ask? Your once responsible consumer will consider the fact on how many irresponsible consumers have just stopped making their payments and then claimed bankruptcy. Thus clearing heir slate – they weren’t getting anymore credit because their payments weren’t being met, so what the heck. The bank now takes that proceeding as a loss – it is lumped onto the bank’s quarterly loss – oh my God we’re losing money says the bank – RING RING – “Hello, Mr. President? We need another bail out” – the bank will not lose one iota!

    The bank isn’t doing this couple a favor in the short term, and in this economy, it’s the short term that matters in order to keep a roof over your head, and food in your stomach – something that those credit cards may have brought into this couples home.
49. 

    Terri
    

    August 31, 2009, 20:09

    
    

    I am one of Chase’s customers they are so looking out for,ha.ha. my debt with Chase is at 5.99%, I have been forced to either take the new minimum payment of 389.00 dollars(was 120.00) or take an increase in my low rate to 7.99% with two years to pay off the debt.The prevoius amount with an unlimited time in paying off my debt would have allowed me to pay off my debt in three to four years, with this rate I will not be able to pay extra on this account, so really who is it helping…CHASE and that is what the man for Chase told me on the phone,,times are changing and WE have to COMPENSATE for the loss we are experiencing with the new government regulations. The fed should have taken it into consideration that the snakes would still be snakes and protected us better. I may lose my good credit standing because of this issue and think it is ridiculous that they have done this to us when jobs are not what they used to be, and they received a taxpayers bail out, let’s see them live on 15 weeks of work and the rest of the year a 433.00 weekly unemployment check. As for the man who tells us all to make cutbacks, borrow on our 401 k…what is that, we already live in an older home, heat with wood, cut our own wood, spend 40 dollars on groceries a week, drive a 95 and 2001 jeep, have one cell phone to our name, and cable…what’s that???
50. 

    Jerry
    

    September 3, 2009, 14:22

    
    

    I was a Chase customer. I said was. The problem I see is if Chase wants to raise the minimum payment from 2% to 5 1/2%, then it should be done with proper warning ( 1 year) thus allowing consumers to make the proper adjustments in budgeting. It should also be for New purchases going forward, and not existing balances. I felt Chase pulled the rug out from under me. I have a perfect credit score, never missed a payment, make additional payments. My balance was $8,200 and my minimum went from $165 to $451 and with a 45 day notice. The notice was so confusing I did not understand it, and assumed it was for new purchases. During the depression banks called 30 year mortgages due immediately, and if they did not get paid they foreclosed. Is Chase going to make changes to existing car Loans and Home Mortgages because times are tough. When Chase messes with me, I run away faster then a heart beat. The long story short, I transfered to B of A who is much more reputable, and canceled all my business with Chase. They probaly don’t care, but I’m sure my wealth and income in the top 20% in the nation will never be used at Chase.
51. 

    Mindy P
    

    September 3, 2009, 21:39

    
    

    I have had my Chase card for 20 years it was the first card I received. I was emplyoyed by them at the time. I have never been late or missed a payment. When I did have a balance I have always paid more than my minimum payment. I too, transferred a balance from a higher rate card that was used for several vehicle repairs & medical bills to a fixed 3.99% until the balance was paid off. Today I went to look at my online statement, I got rid of paper statements, and was shocked to see that it went from $113.00 to $277.00 per month. When I called I was told that they mailed out notices to all customers saying the minimum payment was changing to 5% on 6/21. I looked and the notice I received was regarding interest rate increases and did not mention min. payments and was from 6/19. I was told that was a different mailing, also the one I received is the only one they show online on my account notices, pretty fishy I think. I was then told if I couldn’t afford the new minimum they would gladly keep it at the same % but they would raise my interest rate to 7.99%. I am going to keep it as is and pay the sucker off faster, I’m going tomorrow and closing my checking account with them also. I really don’t think that they mailed out notices to anyone. I know I didn’t receive one.
52. 

    Alessandro Machi
    

    September 6, 2009, 2:42

    
    

    I really wish the author would understand that consumers LOSE SPENDING DOLLARS EVERY MONTH if they are forced to pay off a lower interest rate credit card faster than a higher interest rate credit card.

    Chase bank should just offer their customers bribes to pay off the card faster. Seriously. How about a 100 dollar gift card every 6 months in exchange for the higher monthly minimum payment. Then those that can afford to pay off the card faster get something in return, those who can’t, just keep paying it down as is.

    Even a 2% monthly minimum payment will pay off a credit card in a timely manner if the interest rate is low. It is only when the interest rate creeps up towards 10% and higher that the 2% monthly minimum rate will take a really long time to pay off.

    Chase bank customers being affected have low interest rate offers of 1.99% to 5.99%, all within range that allows even a 2% monthly minimum payment to pay off the card in a timely manner.

    Plus, many card holders were already paying more than the minimum, so it is insulting to tell these customers how to pay down debt when the only reason they have the offer is because they were never late with their payments.
53. 

    Pinyo
    

    September 6, 2009, 9:06

    
    

    “I really wish the author would understand that consumers LOSE SPENDING DOLLARS EVERY MONTH if they are forced to pay off a lower interest rate credit card faster than a higher interest rate credit card.”

    I do understand. I am not sure why you assumed that I don’t
54. 

    TH
    

    September 7, 2009, 21:17

    
    

    September 2007 I accepted an offer from Chase to consolidate and transfer balances of $9,000.00 at 6.99% for the life of the loan with a 2% minimum payment. I have been making steady progress over the last two years paying down the loan by more than one third the total. I have never missed or been late with a payment and I always pay a little extra as well. Now Chase has changed the rules for no reason or fault that they are willing to clarify to me. The new minimum payment is 5% and this increased the monthly payment by $200.00.

    The references you make in the article about consumers is true and I whole heartedly take responsibility for the debt incurred over the last few years. I made bad choices during the boom. The banks also made some bad choices especially Chase and I was, am and will forever be against the financial bailouts. After flying into Washington on private jets and collecting their government handouts, the executives enjoyed a celebratory lavish spa weekend where they concocted a way to make things even worse for the American Middle Class. Not everyone is ignorant of their credit card debt. I know what I owe and how it has cost me to be indebted to the banks. For the last two years, I’ve been working to reduce that debt.

    If Chase needed to call in the debts (which they don’t because they just got a huge Federal Bail Out) then in all fairness, it should have been done in stages up to the maximum increase of 5% at a rate of .5% – 1% over a period of months to allow customers the opportunity to adjust their budgets. I think Chase is targeting the low rate customer who are not making new charges and have good credit because they want us to be late or unable to pay the minimum so they can up the interest to some ridiculous rate. At this stage in the economic recovery it is unscrupulous for Chase to enact this type of punishment on people who are living up to their end of the deal and for many families it boarders on financial murder!

    I think it is worthy to note here that a lot of the cards that are being called into question this time around are used by small business owners to float payroll and expenses during slow times. Therefore, the impact will not only affect consumer spending in the expected way but also through ever increasing unemployment.

    I live in an average American town and we are all painfully aware of the hits we’ve been taking from rising prices at the pumps, plummeting home values, and of course, the ever growing national debt, the American Middle Class is in a lot of trouble. Where is our voice? I can’t trust government (either side of the isle) and now it looks like the media has turned on us as well. In this situation saying nothing is as good as condoning Chase’s policies. What Chase is doing might be legal but it is certainly immoral. Other banks are watching and will probably follow suite. It won’t take long before many of us that are teetering on the edge are unable to budget our way out of failure. As for me and my family, we’ve turned the A/C up to 80°, started the mac & cheese / hot dog diet and all spending will stop! To hell with saving the economy, this family is looking out for number one!

    Who is our government and the media looking out for? I call on the media to get behind the American Middle Class and rein in this Bank that is “to big to fail.”
55. 

    Larjo
    

    September 7, 2009, 21:57

    
    

    Mr. Pinyo… Might as well face it, despite your good intentions your article came off as someone who has never really struggled to make ends meet. Those who think we are getting what we deserve or that it is somehow our fault that the credit crisis exists are sorely misinformed or delusional. I am not assuming that you are one of the before mentioned. I do beleive you have a bit of sympathy for the honest,hard-working middle class families who are only trying to provide for their families and realize even a small part of the American dream. You really should have done your homework before writing such an article. Fact is, as you probably know by now, most of the people affected by chases loan-sharkery were very good customers who were never late or missed payments and payed more than the minimum most of the time. Even paying the minimum at the low rate you are reducing your principle significantly each month. Beleive me, we don’t want to be in debt and if we would have had the money to pay these heartless, anti-american, greedy, back-stabbing, un-ethical, terroristic, stress-inducing, murdering “yes some people will actually die over this”, Jamie Dimons, yes if we would have had the money to pay them back all at once we would have never borrowed it in the first place. As for blame, well , who sent these offers for 2.99-5.99% at 2% of the outstanding balance for the life of the loans? For people needing to pay medical bills or making their homes livable or consolidating debt or just trying to provide for their families that was like throwing carrots in the rabbit hole. Sure the rabbit don’t have to eat those carrots, it can get whatever is left in the wild or scavenge from the garden. The carrots in the hole are the best deal he can get. He’s a fool not to take them. He didn’t have any idea that the one who thru them in the hole was only trying to lure him into a trap. The goverment should have let them fend for themselves like they are us. Isn’t it ironic that after us taxpayers saved them they are showing their gratitude by sending us into financial ruin. May the credit card companies rot in their own greed and reep what they sow.
56. 

    Larjo
    

    September 7, 2009, 22:32

    
    

    Correction… In my haste I misworded the offers that were given by that Demon of a bank, “JP Morgan Chase”. It was 2.99%-5.99% with payments set at 2% of the outstanding balance for the life of the loan as long as your account remained in good standing. I figure most people knew what I meant but I wanted to clarify the deals that were given.
57. 

    Pinyo
    

    September 8, 2009, 9:40

    
    

    @Larjo – Your point is well taken and as I clarified in my earlier comments, I wasn’t fully aware of what Chase was doing. The article merely addresses the idea of paying more than the minimum so that you’ll end up paying less interest.

    And I realize that it sounds insensitive now that I know more about what actually happened.
58. 

    Larjo
    

    September 8, 2009, 17:49

    
    

    Pinyo- Thanks for your reply. You are an honorable fellow and I appreciate your open-mindedness toward the crisis that many of us have been facing. Thanks again for providing this forum for those of us who have had to deal with that back-stabbing Chase to voice our frustration. By doing so you were able to re-asess your views which is to your credit as a compassionate person. That said, I totally agree that the credit card companies should have been setting up payment plans so that debt would have been paid off faster and with less interest. But this should have been up front so people would know what they were getting into. That way people would have only borrowed what they could pay off in a reasonable amount of time. Perhaps 3 to 5 years depending on the size of the loan. Payments should be the same amount each month with those who wanted to pay extra paying it off quicker without penalty. Instead, they were deceptive and outright deal breakers. Not only have they hurt the consumer but they hurt themselves by their trickery and unethical business practices. Might have been, could have been, should have been… It does not help us now. Hopefully when the sufferage is over something good can come of it if everybody, including the banks learn from this and modify their business practices for the good of all.
59. 

    Christa
    

    September 10, 2009, 17:02

    
    

    Chase took over my Wamu credit card a while back.

    I have not made any purchases or used this card in over 2 years. I’ve never made a late payment the entire time I’ve had the card.

    To keep my post short: my average Min Due is $60. My average monthly payment is $236.00. A few months ago, I made a $300.00 payment. The following month, Chase raised my APR from 21.71% to 23.27%. Just to see what would happen, I paid just $2 above the $45 minimum due the next month. Chase decreased my APR from 23.27% to 21.82%. When I made a payment over $200, the APR increased 1.6% the following month.

    Why? Because they can.

    I’m still fighting to pay off this $2,100 balance as quickly as I can. I expect my APR to increase to 28% within the next two months. Chase was so kind to notify me of this change.

    So, I wish that people would stop blaming the customer so quickly. Chase only cares about THEIR bottom line. They are not interested in helping the customer.
60. 

    Mike
    

    September 16, 2009, 20:38

    
    

    Same story, different Chase customer. What can we do? Well, I am committed to calling Chase 3 times a week. I have a job and that is as much time as I have. I am going to fax Chase once daily until the President of the Company calls me. Each day I attach the last faxes to the new Fax for reference. Today, my fax was 12 pages. Tomorrow, it will be 14. I actually think he or she will call once I reach a 4 digit fax. I will no longer make online payments. That is too easy for them. If you do make payments on line. Make multiple payments. (i.e. Sixty $5.00 payments versus one $300.00 payment). I am also sending as much mail as possible to Chase and every time I call them I am asking them to send me certain documents. Today I have them mailing me the check I wrote that promised 2.9% for life. If the 1 million customers that they have screwed did what I am doing, we would disrupt and cost Chase Bank Millions of Dollars. I have also wrote all my Senators, my Governor, and anyone else I could think of. Last, I filled out a complaint at http://www.helpmewithmybank.com. Will this hurt Chase? Not me along, However, with one million strong, you bet. If anyone has any other ideas that I can use,…, please pass them along. The goal is to make life hard on Chase like they have made it for us. God bless America.
61. 

    Lew
    

    September 17, 2009, 0:59

    
    

    There are several options for the almost 1 million customers that Chase has screwed. First, contact Chase just so you can hear the “that’s too bad” speech. Then file a complaint here
    http://www.helpwithmybank.gov/.....index.html
    It will get Chase attention! Also file a complaint with your states Attorneys General and Federal Attorneys General. Chase is doing this to get rid of customers that carry a low interest balance or a large balance. They can get away with it as long as people are sheep.
    This is what you get with a government controlled by corporate money. Like FDR said, a government by organized money is just as dangerous as a government by organized mob.
62. 

    Alessandro Machi
    

    November 22, 2009, 2:48

    
    

    I should add that although the monthly minimum payment can be reduced back down to 2%, the payment amount stays the same for five years. The interest rate should remain what you were paying, or go down, however, I had heard of people being offered 5.99% even if they were at 2.99 or 4.99.