CC Company has raised minimum payments from 2% to 5%, What can be done?

[Starr07]

My CC Company has said that they cannot negotiate on the minimun payments because the government is requiring them to set it at 5%. They offered me a "hardship" plan whereby my account would be closed voluntarily, and I would pay the balance in lower increments. Is this being done to all credit cards? Will voluntary closing my CC acount hurt my credit score. I generally paid $100 more than the minimum but 5% is out of range of my budget.

[Anonymous]

It will hurt your score if they are going to report it as being late however if it's a payment plan the main thing that is going to hurt you will be that your limit is going to show as $0 and your balance as however much you have left to pay off - so if, for example, you have a 1000 balance on there you are going to be 1000% of utl (actually at infinity but...)

[Anonymous]

If going from 3% to 5% is not possible you need to look at your budget.

It is best if you can take a new view of credit cards in this credit climate.

What is the interest rate? What is the default rate if you are late with a payment?

[Anonymous]

---

@Starr07 wrote:
My CC Company has said that they cannot negotiate on the minimun payments because the government is requiring them to set it at 5%. They offered me a "hardship" plan whereby my account would be closed voluntarily, and I would pay the balance in lower increments. Is this being done to all credit cards? Will voluntary closing my CC acount hurt my credit score. I generally paid $100 more than the minimum but 5% is out of range of my budget.

---

Is Chase the CC company you are talking about? Do you have a low-APR-for-life balance transfer on this account?

[2wheel]

Someone beat me to the punchline I just got my chase YES CHASE.... Notice today from 2 percent to 5 percent plus intrest every month what they going to do next 

[2wheel]

Revike...... I got 5.99 for life of card why you get notice today too?

[Starr07]

Yes, Revike it is Chase and it was a  low-APR-for-life balance transferat 6.99.

[Anonymous]

At the beginning of the year, Chase targeted low-APR-for-life-BT accounts with a $10/month fee (later rescinded) and a minimum payment percentage increase from 2% to 5%.

What we are seeing now appears to be the second wave of minimum payment increases. Generally, they involve accounts that are at least 2 years old, and have had no purchases charged (just the BT). In the first wave, I believe the targeted accounts all had APRs less than 5.99%, so it looks like the newest wave has a higher ceiling ...

Message Edited by Revike on 06-24-2009 04:05 PM