Capital One Jacks Up Interest Rates

Written by nickel - 11 Comments

In case you haven’t heard, Capital One has recently been increasing credit card interest rates for their cardholders. While it’s not unheard of for card issuers to raise rates if you engage in risky financial activities (universal default, anyone?), Capital One appears to be jacking up their rates across the board. In some cases, this involves turning cards that formally offered 4.99% fixed rates into variable rate cards that charge nearly triple that amount in interest.

Remember… Credit card issuers can and do change the rules from time to time. “Fixed” rates are often only fixed until they change the rules (typically with 30 days notice), so be sure to read any correspondence that you receive from your credit card issuer(s).

And if you’re currently carrying a balance on a Capital One card, you might want to check into this. If it turns out that you’re facing an uptick in interest rates, then you need to think about finding a credit card that offers low APR balance transfers.

[Source: The Consumerist]

Published on August 6th, 2007 - 11 Comments
Filed under: Credit Cards, Debt Reduction
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Comments (scroll down to add your own):

CCs are always jerking you around… You must pay them every month or risk financial ruin… Over drastic?
Comment by RateLadder — Aug 6th 2007 @ 6:16 pm
If capital one is like any other credit card company, I bet you can call them up and ask for your rate to be lowered.
Comment by MoneyNing — Aug 7th 2007 @ 1:21 am
I got something in the mail from C1, it stated that the overlimit fees, latepayment fees, and returned check fees were going up…it stated nothing about my interest rate…?
Comment by Cheryl — Aug 7th 2007 @ 10:13 am
New advertising campaign:

WHO’S IN YOUR WALLET?
Comment by Minimum Wage — Aug 9th 2007 @ 3:48 pm
I have never heard of that. i don’t know why I’m surprized. I thought we were the ones who keep them in business… so much for customer service!
Comment by ted — Aug 12th 2007 @ 12:16 am
I know it’s simple,just whip out that credit card.How about,just paying for it when you want or can afford it.It’s such a novel idea .why didn’t i think of that before! credit card companies will be suing for your business!
Comment by Jim — Aug 12th 2007 @ 2:45 pm
1. Rec’d note that my 14% C1 card was increasing to 19%. I called. I have perfect credit history with them. They kept it at 14%

2. Rec’d note that my 4.9% C1 card was increasing fees — but not APR.

C1 could not say why the difference.

What I would like to do is switch my 14% C1 card to a lower interest C1 card. Appears that they only way I can do that is to transfer the 1200 owed to my hsbc card which has zero balance. Then cancel my 14% C1 card. And then reopen another C1 card at capital one.

I like c1..have always had great relationship with them. But, sheesh, that looks like a ridiculous option/way to handle the change.

But meanwhile, I don’t want to do anything that will reduce my credit score. My mortgage is paid off and I have no car debt. My lack of debt hurts my Fico score.

So I need card accounts with long histories.

Ideas?
Comment by Cynthia — Aug 12th 2007 @ 6:42 pm
Capital One are the biggest loan sharks out there. They notoriously utilize universal default to get consumers interest rates well over 25%, which just kills peoples finances.
Comment by Steve "The Debt Settlement Man" B — Aug 24th 2007 @ 2:23 pm
They raised my rate from 4.9 ‘fixed’ to 13.4. I called them and they lowered it to 9.9 variable. Debt ruins lives.
Comment by pablo — Oct 30th 2007 @ 2:04 pm
I transfered the balance of another card to Capital One and was assured I’d have an APR of 4.99 until the balance was paid off. I’ve just come to find that they raised my rate to over 13%!

I’m taking out a home equity loan at 6% and paying off the card tomorrow!

I’ll never do business with Capital One again. I’ve never been late with a payment and I have almost PERFECT credit. As far as I am concerned, Capital One engages in consumer FRAUD.
Comment by Mark Graybill — Feb 12th 2008 @ 12:28 am
Capital One does suck. I have two cards with them, one is a $3 a month card that I’ve had for more than 12 years. Yeah, can you believe it, they charge me $3 a month. In the past they’ve waived the fee; later on they would only give me 1.50 credit. Now they won’t even waive the fee. They said they just had a meeting and can’t do that anymore.
My other card with them has like 12.9. This $3/month card has two fixed rate transfers, one at 2.9 and one at 9.9(with 8.9 after one year fixed) and i noticed that it jumped from 12.9 to 19.8 since my last statement (may 08 to june 08) I called today and asked them to have it lowered. Put on hold for 15 seconds. Came back and said I was not eligible for any lowering of my APR. I told them that I would be transferring my $$ from that card immediately.
ALSO, someone else I saw somplace had a similar situation. I wanted to get rid of this $3/month card and they wanted me to consolidate the two cards into one toget the lower rate. What a joke!
KEEP A WATCH ON YOUR APR on these people. Capital One sucks. What’s in your wallet? Hidden APR hikes!
Comment by Dean — Jun 6th 2008 @ 6:04 pm