Consumers CU (IL) doubling APR

[SouthJamaica]

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@FicoMike0 wrote:

What was the before and after aprs?

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Before: 13.95% APR

After: 28.25% APR

Before: no cash advance fee

After: 5% cash advance fee

[SouthJamaica]

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@ptatohed wrote:

The Disclosure states an interest rate of 13.95% - 24.95% as the APR for Cash Advances on the Platinum.

It lists a transaction fee for Cash Advances of $5 or 5% for all their cards.

It says the information in the Disclosure is accurate as of 01-02-2025.

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I've had the card for 9 years, so the terms being offered were no doubt different.

[SouthJamaica]

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@bs1234 wrote:

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@ptatohed wrote:

The Disclosure states an interest rate of 13.95% - 24.95% as the APR for Cash Advances on the Platinum.

It lists a transaction fee for Cash Advances of $5 or 5% for all their cards.

It says the information in the Disclosure is accurate as of 01-02-2025.

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OK, so that suggests that at least the fee is standard and not targetted at OP.  @SouthJamaica has to see how the old and new rate fit into that range.   Also, was the cash advance rate the only one changed (i.e. purchase APR stayed the same)? 

Yes only the cash advance rate was changed.

If so, that again would suggest it's not a concern about SJ.   If a bank had (mild) worries about  customer, they would increase both APRs.

So my guess is that as a whole they have found cash advances to be too risky at the current rates and are fixing that.

I know @SouthJamaica would prefer to hear from other customers, either confirming or denying that they got a similar letter, but I closed my CCU credit card two years ago

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[FicoMike0]

@SouthJamaica 

Sorry I have to agree with you. Looks like they increased you from the lowest rate to above the highest posted rate. That looks targeted to me too. B@$tards!

[TrapLine]

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@SouthJamaica wrote:

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@FicoMike0 wrote:

What was the before and after aprs?

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Before: 13.95% APR

After: 28.25% APR

Before: no cash advance fee

After: 5% cash advance fee

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WOW! Guess they don't want customers using their products for cash advances! Chase Freedom MC is 29.24%, Citi Bank 29.49%, US Bank 28.24%, Elan (USBank) 28.24% and Discover Bank 28.24%. It seems the credit unions must be the ones with the best rates as I have one that is 9.9% cash or purchases fixed rate (tight geo-restricted to a one small city location - no outsiders) and no fees for an advance.

[AndrewF]

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@SouthJamaica wrote:

Just received a notice last week that Consumers Credit Union (Lake Forest, IL), is doubling the cash advance interest rate on my platinum card, and adding a 5% cash advance fee. 

The notice states the changes are "due to the current market".  I wonder if that's true, or if it's just a form of adverse action directed at me.

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I'm in the Consumer's area and would not bank with them personally based on things I've heard.

Your lender doesn't have to give you reasons why the terms are changing, only a notice. The terms will change on new cash advances as of a date at the end of that required notice. If you do not agree with the notice, you can disagree with it by canceling the card.

My landlord reached out over text last year with the dreaded annual "because reasons" rent hike, and under the law he doesn't have to give me reasons, but he blamed "incessant" repairs, interest rates, all kinds of crap.

Yeah, his business was a massive speculative bet that he could do cash out refinancing, and high interest rates sort of screw that up. You can still do it, but it's not lucrative anymore. He already had to lop off one of his buildings and sell it to raise cash to try to buy the rest time.

Most things, you know, you're just along for the ride, and like rental contracts, the terms of many financial products are usually "This is what we're doing, take it or leave it." They sort of collude so that the deal will be about the same anywhere so they're sort of like insurance companies. The only area where you _sometimes_ "win" is if you sign to relatively favorable fixed terms before rates go sky high, but credit cards don't work like this because that's what "variable" means. It's not fixed. There's also no cap.

They could legally offer you a credit card with a 1000% APR if the bank is based in a state that allows that. The only thing reigning them in a bit is what the market will tolerate and what the competition is doing.

Nobody like insurance companies, there's very little to differentiate themselves in the market, so most of their budget is spent on promoting themselves to the new clients. This is why there's so many banks out there with "welcome offers" and spending lots of money throwing flyers at you that don't worry about retention later. They know that if you can bring them in, they usually don't leave.

[AndrewF]

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@Gollum wrote:

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@SouthJamaica wrote:

Just received a notice last week that Consumers Credit Union (Lake Forest, IL), is doubling the cash advance interest rate on my platinum card, and adding a 5% cash advance fee. 

The notice states the changes are "due to the current market".  I wonder if that's true, or if it's just a form of adverse action directed at me.

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Since you are part of "the current market", both may be true: due to the current market, and a form of adverse action directed at you.

I think the Fed is more likely to lower the federal funds rate (eventually) than to raise it.

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That's why you should extend the duration of rollover fixed income generating investments if you can.

"Smoke 'em while you got 'em."