What do you think is the level of responsibility that Credit Card companies have in regards to consu

What I mean is, there is an obvious problem of people using their credit cards to levels way beyond their means.

I blame credit card companies/banks for making these higher levels of credit too readily available, and for having such highly jacked up interest rates that are way beyond fair.

I also blame people who seem to show absolutely no ability to reason with how much they can afford to spend. Just because you have a chance to spend a lot of money on credit doesn%26#039;t mean you should.

I%26#039;ve been there, so if that sounds like I%26#039;m pointing fingers, I%26#039;m pointing it at myself as well.

What say you?

What do you think is the level of responsibility that Credit Card companies have in regards to consumer debt?

Exactly.

I have heard recently from a reputable person that they negotiated with their credit card issuers to reduce their balances, including writing off the interest that had accumulated. They did this directly with the companies, not through a debt consolidator. I found this fascinating.

Credit cards are a huge cash cow for banks, so it is understandable that their interest rates and late fees are what they are; after all, people are borrowing the bank%26#039;s money to make purchases right now. It is expected that the balances will be paid back promptly, or the banks will make money off of the delay in payment.

What do you think is the level of responsibility that Credit Card companies have in regards to consumer debt?

You are quite correct in everything you said. Credit card companies give out too much credit and people use them beyond their means.

But the interest rates are the fault of the credit card companies. Some people (especially the younger college age kids) do not understand the interest and the procedures in the payments of the bill. So before long the interest rate is at 35% and it is all you can do to pay the minimums each month.

When anybody sees a credit card offer in the mail, you should immediately rip it up!!!! They will only cause you sleepless nights and upset stomachs!!!

What do you think is the level of responsibility that Credit Card companies have in regards to consumer debt?

I agree that it is indeed the problem of the consumer, however the credit card companies also do not need to jack up the interest rates. Cards have rates of 19.99 -27.99% - which at that rate you%26#039;d never be able to pay it off (which is what the card companies are hoping). I think that all cards should have a resonable interest rate that way the consumer stands a better chance of paying it off and thus stay out of debt.

What do you think is the level of responsibility that Credit Card companies have in regards to consumer debt?

As long as the credit card companies are addressing adults and their charges are transparent, I do not see how you can blame them. If greedy people cannot control their spending, or are too lazy to check the charges, they should take the consequences.

What do you think is the level of responsibility that Credit Card companies have in regards to consumer debt?

All parties are to blame. Our economy is based on spending, spending, spending and a HUGE part of the economy is selling debt (home equity, credit cards, unsecured loans, etc).

The credit card company%26#039;s should correct with all of them starting to write off millions/billions of dollars. They will hopefully learn their lesson and not just freely %26quot;give out%26quot; money.

The consumer also needs to correct their behavior and start only spending below what they make (and save some too!).

I think Congress, credit card companies and consumers should all read 2 books, one from Ramsey and Suze Orman. Either way, we would all be smarter with money. (Suze says credit is ok, within reason. Ramsey says no to credit use all cash. Either way, neither advocate overspending.)

What do you think is the level of responsibility that Credit Card companies have in regards to consumer debt?

Big question, dude. There%26#039;s enough blame to go around for real. Since there seems to be so much deception on the part of credit card company%26#039;s I think most of the blame needs to fall to them. Sure they put the terms and conditions in unintelligle terms at the end of 15 pages of boring legaleze, so technically, they are not deceiving you; they do tell you they what they will do, but they do say it in a way and place they know normal people will not get. The thing is, you don%26#039;t have to play with them if you don%26#039;t like how they play. There%26#039;s nothing wrong with cash. Wouldn%26#039;t it be a great goal to save enough money to buy your next car with cash (and thereby collect interest on the money you buy a car with instead of pay interest on the money you buy a car with)? You can, but so few people realize they can, and do that. I think it%26#039;s a great goal. Figure out how much you want to spend on your next car, and divide that by the number of months till you buy your next car, and then put that much aside in the bank to collect interest. You%26#039;re going to be buying another car anyway at some point. Why not sit down and figure this out and save for it. Then you don%26#039;t have to have credit to buy your wheels. Now, try to figure that out for a house. NOT easy, I grant you, but possible. And you get to earn interest on your money instead of credit company%26#039;s earning interest on your money. I know that%26#039; probably sounds like an outrageous idea, but there are people who do that. Also, I know of one company that made it a rule never to be in debt for more money than it had in the bank, so that if business went bad, it could still reasonably pay off debt and avoid all the mess that comes with not being able to pay off debt. Ordinary people could use the same standard in their lives: don%26#039;t borrow or go into debt for more than you have in a savings or investment account somewhere. You can also go to bankrate.com and shop for the best credit card for your situation too, if you find you can%26#039;t go cold turkey without credit. Just some thoughts....

What do you think is the level of responsibility that Credit Card companies have in regards to consumer debt?

I%26#039;m totally with you. And what about students? They have no jobs and no means of paying back but they get credit cards like you would not believe

What do you think is the level of responsibility that Credit Card companies have in regards to consumer debt?

Blaming CC companies for bad debt is like blaming Ford when somebody gets nicked for speeding.

These companies put the tools at your disposal, it%26#039;s up to you to use them sensibly!!

What do you think is the level of responsibility that Credit Card companies have in regards to consumer debt?

If it were up to me, you can almost always catch me on the side of personal responsibility. I say if someone signs on for a credit card, it%26#039;s their own responsibility to make sure they can use it and pay it off each month without getting bitten by the ridiculous interest rates that go around. Interest rates hurt, but in many cases the people eating the interest made their own bed with it and have to suffer the consequences.

What do you think is the level of responsibility that Credit Card companies have in regards to consumer debt?

Credit card companies do not gain anything when people default on loans. You do not make money by lending it out and then never seeing it again -- that is how you lose money, actually. So, a Credit Card company%26#039;s responsibility is to its shareholders, and it is to maximize profit while minimizing risk. It does this by doing proper risk analysis and lending money -- but not to people unlikely to pay it back.

If you want to fault a CC company, THAT is what you fault them for.

As for people getting into too much debt -- blame no one but themselves. It is sort of assumed that people can behave as responsible adults. Don%26#039;t blame banks or credit card companies if they can%26#039;t. Banks are not babysitters and they%26#039;re not your momma.

By the way the large majority of people do not have credit card problems at all. 55% of households do not carry credit card debt, and about 75% total have less than $2500 credit card debt.

It%26#039;s just those of us in the minority that make everyone else look bad.