BANKS AND CREDIT CARD COMPANIES ARE LINING UP AGAINST YOU
BANKS AND CREDIT CARD COMPANIES ARE LINING UP AGAINST YOU
As consumers are feeling the sting of the slumping economy and finding they have to be better debt managers and save more money and try to reduce our debt to income ratio, credit card companies are making it their profitable business to make it much harder.
Most Americans are feeling the pain of the recession, and many even have been thinking that now is the opportune time for using the; accrued points, bonuses, benefits, discounts, or so called rewards that they have accumulated for using their credit cards.
But, it should be no surprise that just as people want to actually begin to cash in, (although that is an oxymoron), on the benefits from using our credit cards, that in fact credit card companies are making it harder and harder for you to do so, by raising the bar on redemption thresholds.
According to Affinity Solutions Inc. a company in New York that manages and develops rewards programs, credit card companies are raising the bar on reward programs and the easiest way to do that is to increase the point redemption values or the number of points needed to cash in on your rewards.
Approximately 40% to 45% of credit cards and 20% to 25% of debit cards have access to rewards programs, although the terms may be very different. Debit card use is growing and more and more banks are expanding their debit card reward programs to cash in on this lucrative area of the market by expanding their rewards program to lure in consumers, but in order to take advantage of those rewards consumers are usually required to spend more money in order to receive the same reward points as a credit card offers.
Even though there are steps the consumer can take to increase the amount of points one accumulates to maximize your rewards with your credit card company, this should not influence consumers spending. Many find themselves searching for a free debt consolidation service.
A credit card holders primary goal should be to receive the lowest possible interest rate on the debt they owe, or to reduce or eliminate the debt altogether. The main area of concern should be the interest rate and fees being charged to those who are carrying a debt or revolving balance.
Rewards programs will not help you with your debt management, debt solutions or debt resolution, but are likely to get you further into debt, and if you are a consumer who is carrying a revolving balance that can lead to serious debt management problems.
The moral of the story is; in this economy and the proposed near future we all need to be prudent in our debt management, spend wisely, and not be taken in by reward programs.
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