Credit Cards

Credit cards are a necessary evil in the modern world. You need cards to book a flight, make reservations, pay bills, and to build credit. On the flip side, they can also devastate your credit rating if you are not careful.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is convinced that loose-credit standards rather than the absence of a credit-rating agency are the driving force behind the high incidence of loan defaults among credit-card borrowers.

Credit cardholders, rejoice. Another senator is seeking review, for legislation, of existing laws, policies and jurisprudence regarding rates. Hopefully, relief is coming for 5.5 million overcharged cardholders.

PRESS RELEASE HON. RAYMOND DEMOCRITO C. MENDOZA            14 October 2010 Trade Union Congress Party (TUCP Party-List) Room 204 South Wing, House of Representatives, Batasan Hills, Quezon City 1126 Tel/Fax: (632) 951-3011 TUCP urges ceiling rate on credit card charges Trade Union Congress Party (TUCP Party-List) Rep. Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza lambasted credit card…

MANILA, Philippines – A second bill seeking to improve regulation of the credit card industry has been filed in Senate. Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. has filed Senate Bill 2492, which seeks to provide more transparency on interests and charges that consumers pay credit card firms.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas deputy governor Juan de Zuñiga Jr., also its general counsel, sent a lengthy rejoinder to my series on credit card overcharges. I had stated that he treats as case-to-case the many Supreme Court rulings to limit interest to only one percent and penalty to another percent a month. Too, that credit…

Nearly one in 10 credit card customers pay off only the minimum payment each month, potentially costing them a fortune in interest, according to a survey from comparison website Moneysupermarket.com.

First there was Rep. Winston Castelo (2nd district, Quezon City). Now Senators Francis Escudero and Bong Revilla too are taking up the cudgels for overcharged credit cardholders. They have filed separate bills to regulate arbitrary rates and fees charged by card companies. This, in light of several Supreme Court rulings, latest in Sept. 2009, limiting…

If you are qualified for a certain job but routinely turned down after a potential employer checks your credit record, the best tip is to move to Washington or Hawaii. These two states have banned employee credit checks, with certain exceptions. If you apply for a position in a financial institution, state or local government…

Overcharged and harassed credit card users might soon find relief from abusive card issuers. Though a tyro, Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo is taking up the cudgels for them against big banks and government coddlers.

MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives is set to conduct an inquiry into the excessive rates of interest, penalties, and charges being slapped by credit card companies on their clients.

Last year the Supreme Court limited credit card interest to a percent and penalty to another percent a month. (See http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2009/september2009/175490.htm.) In writing last week about the little known ruling I may have opened a can of worms. Readers are complaining not only against rate overcharging but also other perceived abuses by card companies, and…

Readers continue to swamp Gotcha with e-mails about interest and penalty overcharging by credit card companies. For advice and concerted action they can link up with crusader Eduardo Olaguer, founder-president of Advocates for Truth in Lending: land line (02) 9136382, fax (02) 9136385; e-mail cxap@yahoo.com.C

Shaken by last year’s roof-high floods from storm Ondoy, Manilans panic at mere pitter-patter of rain. After losing many belongings, they seem to have not learned a lesson. They misconstrue that the downpour in only six hours of a month’s usual rainfall caused the deluge. Forgotten is that intact watersheds hold back torrents. Too, that…

Will LTO chief Virginia Torres insist on Friday’s bidding for a new driver’s license supplier, against superiors’ orders? If so, she might be the second friend-appointee of President Noynoy Aquino to bring him shame.

Does your credit card charge you interest and penalty of more than a percent each per month? If yes, then know that you are being overcharged. The Supreme Court had so ruled last year unanimously in a division. It called “exorbitant, iniquitous, excessive” exactions on credit cards above one-percent interest and one-percent penalty, or a…

MANILA, Philippines – More and more consumers are turning to their credit cards instead of using cash to pay for goods or services acquired as banks’ credit card receivables went up four percent as of the end of the first quarter this year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported over the weekend.

CREDIT CARD use seems to be widening the gap between the rich and poor, based on results of a study conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. According to a Reuters report by Kristina Cooke, “Credit Card Fees Transfer Wealth to Rich, Study Finds,” credit card use acted “as a transfer of wealth from…

Australia’s major banks have slammed a Labor election promise to ban lenders from charging fees if their consumers exceed their credit card limit.

New Zealanders are paying about $10 million a month more in interest on their credit cards than they would be if banks had passed on falls in the Official Cash Rate (OCR).

MANILA, Philippines – The real lending rate in the Philippines went up in the second quarter due to the continued decline in the inflation rate amid the steady nominal bank lending rates, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported over the weekend.

Pardon the pun, but the title of this column actually stems from an E-mail I received from a good friend, who works at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. No, no, it’s not a reaction to my column yesterday about the BSP and the Monetary Board’s penchant for importing banknotes despite the presence of the Security…

Don’t you have better things to do? The question often comes across as a critical put down especially coming from people who seem to spend more time asking than doing.

WHEN a credit card user does not pay the entire amount shown in his monthly statement of account, he is bound to pay more for his purchases because of interest and penalty charges. When this happens, the credit card issuers are the big winners because they make more money on unpaid bills. The smaller the…

Sometime last year, the Supreme Court come out with a ruling penned by Associate Justice Presbiterio Velasco that banks and lending institutions, including those issuing credit cards, cannot and should not charge more than 2 percent monthly, or 24 percent annually, for interest.

SOMEBODY SENT ME A COPY OF A 2009 decision of the Supreme Court’s Third Division that surprisingly did not seem to generate the interest it deserved, particularly from credit card holders.

Policies harm spiritual, emotional and physical well-being of millions Religious leaders have fought to end slavery, segregation and denying women the right to vote. They have championed labor laws, affordable housing and national health insurance. Yet the voices of faith today are silent against the unjust gain of the credit card industry.

Mythology depicts a cast of fearful nasties – such as Cyclops’, Hydras, and Chimeras – that have served as the boogeymen of ancient times. As is teh case however with all things that go bump in the night, a rational perspective and a little courage is all that is needed to slay these beasts.

MANILA, Philippines – More and more consumers are turning to their credit cards instead of using cash to pay for goods or services acquired as banks’ credit card receivables went up four percent as of the end of the first quarter this year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported over the weekend.

MANILA, Philippines – The Central Credit Information Corp. (CCIC) is expected to start operations by the third quarter of 2010. Chamber of Thrift Banks (CTB) president Pascual Garcia III said the formation of the bureau would make access to credit easier.