Which cc lender(s) do you trust the most not to RJ your card(s) during hard times, such as when your FICO scores are lower than average?
For me, it would be 2 issuers: BoA and Cap1. They never RJ'd me, even when my FICO scores were in or around the mid-600's. Every other single bank cc lender I can think of -- not counting of course the new CU cc accounts I recently acquired -- have RJ'd me over the years, including Citi, Chase, Discover, etc. (I never had any lates or baddies ever, I just used to formerly have high revolving util.)
@Anonymous wrote:
Sorry, what is 'RJ'?
No problem 
"RJ" = shorthand for "rate jack".
All of them since the rules of the road are to PIF as soon as possible. Then it doesn't matter what they post for an APR on the account. And you get a better score in the process
If you're truly worried about it though CU's are usually capped at 18% APR which translates to 1.5%/month.
Those who have been on here for a while will know that in other threads/posts I've talked about how my own financial life has been quite the roller coaster the last 20+ years, so for better or worse I have a little personal experience with this question.
In the event of problems coming up, I would lean heavily on Capital One - hands-down. 
I know if you look hard enough you'll find threads where they "misbehaved" as well (this is true for most any lender) but for me they have been solid as a rock during the good and the bad, and now the good again. Never got a RJ, and never got CLD. 
A close second would be Citi. "Back in the day" when I had Citibank they were solid as well... I had a card with them maxed for literally years and they never flinched - as long as they got paid they were fine. Also never got RJ.
Those would be my top-two to "take into battle", so to speak. I have a few others that I believe would be OK (i.e. Discover) but I just don't have any personal data points to provide there.
I will add that I've read multiple threads on here where BoA and Chase took AA for various reasons, so if problems were to arise I would be especially careful to fly under the radar with them to keep unnecessary 'eyes' off my accounts.
While not a rate jack, I'll also add that if your TU ever takes a significant dive, there's a good chance Synchrony will balance chase you until you get to a credit line they're comfortable with. During the recession I lost my job (and house, and car) and of course my scores plummeted. My Lowe's card had a credit line of $1200 (+/-) and they started balance-chasing me until my limit was $470. (I've seen Synchrony balance chase relatives as well, so I have multiple data points on this.) Of course their 'normal' APR is already high, so unless you default/pay late I would be shocked to hear of them doing a RJ. During this time I had gone out of my way to make sure Lowe's was always kept current (even when others weren't) so this was especially discouraging, and I almost closed it out of spite; instead I put it in the SD for a few years (literally). I'm glad now that I didn't cut them loose... it's now my oldest account (12.5 years) and has a credit line of $20k.
I know we all have unique experiences and my own might vary from others on here... I'm only sharing to provide data points, and my results might be quite different from someone else in the same situation either in the past, now or in the future. (I need to put that disclaimer in my signature... LOL)
@jsucool76 wrote:
Rate jacking isn't usually something that happens from the lender. It usually has more to do with the prime rate. Most lenders don't randomly go "OK, you were at 8%,now you're at 28%"
If we're talking penalty rates for late payments or returned payments, that is a different story, but usually one you can talk through with a csr. (unless it is a regular repeated behavior)
This is a good point... these days, when I hear of AA it's usually CLD or the account is simply closed, but the rate usually doesn't change unless there's a default or late payment.
At one time the rate jack was a very-real thing... I can recall being RJ'd by MBNA back in the late 90s (not late, no default); I had the choice to accept the new rate or close my account with the old terms. Fun times... 
Thankfully that doesn't seem to be a "thing" as much these days... the language in the CARD act makes it harder for them to do anything they want like they once did.
@jsucool76 wrote:
Rate jacking isn't usually something that happens from the lender. It usually has more to do with the prime rate. Most lenders don't randomly go "OK, you were at 8%,now you're at 28%"
If we're talking penalty rates for late payments or returned payments, that is a different story, but usually one you can talk through with a csr. (unless it is a regular repeated behavior)
All true and good points -- although variable-rate APRs can still theoretically have their index that's added to the prime rate increased. That happened to me with my then-Chase Platinum MC around 2002 or thereabouts, where Chase RJ'd the card that I had at that time had an APR of Prime+1.65% (I think the rate was something like 6.15% V back then) much higher; so long ago though that I can't recall the new rate, which I declined and had the card closed out at the pre-RJ APR. Also fixed-rate cards can be rate jacked as well.