No one is exempt for rate jacking. Just PIF. 
Question: Was this 15-year-old card originally issued by Chase, or did Chase buy out the previous issuing bank?
I currently have 4 Chase cards, but only 1 was a Chase card originally. The other three were held by GEMB, BankOne, FirstUSA, and probably one or two others that I've forgotten. The original Chase card is showing a 14.24% rate, the others are at 10.24%, 14.24%, and 24.24%. One of the others even has a $15.00 annual fee that Chase refuses to waive. Two years ago, the 10.24% card and one of the 14.24% cards were at 20% or so, then Chase decided to lower the rates on those two accounts without being asked.
(None of those rates make any difference to me - I've used the accounts for nothing but 0.00%-3.99% offers.)
Anyway, there doesn't seem to be any logic to Chase's behavior - they treat the accounts almost like they were from 4 different issuers, with no consideration of my overall credit usage, FICO score increase, etc. In your case, I'd ignore the official rates and use the card for incidental purchases, pay in full each month, and just benefit from the history. Perhaps Chase will surprise you with a meaningless rate decrease some day.
I currently have 4 Chase cards, but only 1 was a Chase card originally. The other three were held by GEMB, BankOne, FirstUSA, and probably one or two others that I've forgotten. The original Chase card is showing a 14.24% rate, the others are at 10.24%, 14.24%, and 24.24%. One of the others even has a $15.00 annual fee that Chase refuses to waive. Two years ago, the 10.24% card and one of the 14.24% cards were at 20% or so, then Chase decided to lower the rates on those two accounts without being asked.
(None of those rates make any difference to me - I've used the accounts for nothing but 0.00%-3.99% offers.)
Anyway, there doesn't seem to be any logic to Chase's behavior - they treat the accounts almost like they were from 4 different issuers, with no consideration of my overall credit usage, FICO score increase, etc. In your case, I'd ignore the official rates and use the card for incidental purchases, pay in full each month, and just benefit from the history. Perhaps Chase will surprise you with a meaningless rate decrease some day.
Thank you for your post my wife and I feel better.
sankofa wrote:Your post makes me wonder why I would even want a Chase card. My mom was ratejacked by Chase. She had a FirstUSA AARP Card when Chase took over. Her credit was impeccable. Her interest rate was 11% at the time and all payments were made on time. Nothing bad was on her credit report. Chase's reason was that she posed a risk. Risk? Excellent credit and a high credit score (better than her children's). Her APR was raised to 24%. She had a 10 year history, but she was advised by a supervisor to close the account and then to reopen it. Mom closed the account and never reopened it. Her reason was if they were going to do that to her then she didn't need them. Chase continues to send her offers to this day; AARP ones included. She flatly refuses to pay them any attention! Closing her account with them didn't hurt her as she was one of the FICO high achievers with a long history and good reports.SandyK
I assume your mother has what she needs, is not in credit repair mode and does not plan on purchasing any high ticket items. We have the same feelings as your mother and we wanted to cancel the card and shred it to smithereens but she can't, later maybe just to make a stand like your mother did. Of course after we have a house, we already have the credit we need, and do not care about the ding on her FICO scores.Yes, the card was originally a chase card. I heard they bought First Usa and Bank One.
Revike wrote:
Question: Was this 15-year-old card originally issued by Chase, or did Chase buy out the previous issuing bank?
I currently have 4 Chase cards, but only 1 was a Chase card originally. The other three were held by GEMB, BankOne, FirstUSA, and probably one or two others that I've forgotten. The original Chase card is showing a 14.24% rate, the others are at 10.24%, 14.24%, and 24.24%. One of the others even has a $15.00 annual fee that Chase refuses to waive. Two years ago, the 10.24% card and one of the 14.24% cards were at 20% or so, then Chase decided to lower the rates on those two accounts without being asked.
(None of those rates make any difference to me - I've used the accounts for nothing but 0.00%-3.99% offers.)
Anyway, there doesn't seem to be any logic to Chase's behavior - they treat the accounts almost like they were from 4 different issuers, with no consideration of my overall credit usage, FICO score increase, etc. In your case, I'd ignore the official rates and use the card for incidental purchases, pay in full each month, and just benefit from the history. Perhaps Chase will surprise you with a meaningless rate decrease some day.
Well, there's no logic to what Chase did in either case. On the other hand, they aren't the first CCC to treat a long-time loyal customer poorly and they won't be the last. Compared to some of the recent Amex F/R horror stories, Chase's actions are trivial.
You can't take any of it personally. Like TheNewWorldMan says, you need to treat your credit cards like the slaves they are. Also, assume that any of them could turn on you at any moment, and protect yourself with a Plan B as best you can. I've never liked Chase and some of their policies, but last year when BOA ratejacked a BT offer they had given me, I had a fistful of Chase 0% offers on file and my BOA balance was $0.00 in no time.
By the way, my BOA account was opened in 1983 (my oldest and formerly favorite CC) - so there's another example of how a long-time loyal customer gets mistreated. Now my BOA account sees a $40-50 charge every 3 months that gets PIF. I'd suggest you treat Chase the same way ...
You can't take any of it personally. Like TheNewWorldMan says, you need to treat your credit cards like the slaves they are. Also, assume that any of them could turn on you at any moment, and protect yourself with a Plan B as best you can. I've never liked Chase and some of their policies, but last year when BOA ratejacked a BT offer they had given me, I had a fistful of Chase 0% offers on file and my BOA balance was $0.00 in no time.
By the way, my BOA account was opened in 1983 (my oldest and formerly favorite CC) - so there's another example of how a long-time loyal customer gets mistreated. Now my BOA account sees a $40-50 charge every 3 months that gets PIF. I'd suggest you treat Chase the same way ...
It should not be a big deal. Chase is a good bank. I guess you asked them to lower it and they refused. I would ask them if they have another card with a lower apr. Transfer the start age to the new lower age card. Problem solved. I've done that plenty of times with many banks. New card - keep old start date. They cancel the old card and you start a new history but keep the old date on the new card. Confirm this before you do it with Chase. I didn't know I was doing that all these years. I have many newer cards and they all report in the 90's. It called switching over or something. They cancel one for another. Be sure to double check with bank before doing this. :-) Good luck.
Just checked my APR with chase. Mine went up too. From 8.9 to 11.99% It is based on Prime. They only charge you a specific % over Prime. If Prime drops, so will your Apr..... maybe.
Just checked my APR with chase. Mine went up too. From 8.9 to 11.99% It is based on Prime. They only charge you a specific % over Prime. If Prime drops, so will your Apr..... maybe.
Reminds me of the old joke - guy gets a letter fron his CC company: "due to your very responsible use of your credit card we are closing your account" 