AFSCME 3357-HOF'S BLOG

79.9% Credit Card - What a Deal
First Premier is up to New Tricks

First Premier Bank is famous for its high fee credit cards that are available to anyone, no matter how bad your credit. How do they do it. They charge as much as $259 in an annual fee for a credit card with a balance of $250 to $300.00. It's not uncommon for someone to call us and complain that they are being charged an over limit fee before they've even charged anything. The new credit card bill was supposed to outlaw such practices by capping account fees to 25% of the credit line. According to this article in USA Today, apparently First Premier has found a way around the new law. They'll be charging 79.9% interest to go along with a $75.00 first year fee on a credit card with a maximum credit line of $300.00. The reason for the change: under the new law, annual fees are capped, but interest rates aren't. For more on First Premiere, check out the ripoffreport link here.

The clip is from a great documentary on the credit card industry called Maxed Out.