In an article titled "The College Credit-Card Hustle", Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Ben Elgin write for Business Week about how universities and alumni associations "are selling students' personal information to big credit-card companies eager for young customers."

In his Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress today, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke concluded his remarks by discussing the rules that the Federal Reserve working jointly with the Office of Thrift Supervision and the National Credit Union Administration have proposed regarding unfair or deceptive practices for credit card accounts and overdraft protection plans.   » Continue Reading

In what's called "a groundbreaking joint effort by the nation's fastest growing union and trade associations representing merchants, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Food Marketing Institute (FMI), National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), and the National Grocers Association (N.G.A.) sent a letter to every Member of the House of Representatives today calling on Congress to stop the nation's biggest banks and credit card companies from continuing abusive practices which harm American consumers and businesses. The groups jointly urged Congressional action to pass the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights Act of 2008 (H.R. 5244), the Credit Card Fair Fee Act (H.R. 5546 and S. 3086), and the Credit Card Interchange Fees Act of 2008 (H.R. 6248)."   » Continue Reading

In a press release, Consumers Union applauded "the government’s effort to protect consumers from unfair credit card practices and calls for quick adoption of the proposed credit card rules in comments submitted to the Federal Reserve Board about regulations proposed by the Fed along with the Office of Thrift Supervision, and National Credit Union Administration."   » Continue Reading

Chase Card Services has announced a new statement credit feature for its Chase Freedom credit card. According to Chase, "the feature lets customers put anything they want on their Chase Freedom credit card and apply their reward points to their next statement so they can spend rewards like cash. With this new feature, Chase provides customers with maximum rewards flexibility."   » Continue Reading

In an article in today's New York Times titled "Credit Card Overhauls Seem Likely", Jane Birnbaum writes that consumer groups' pleas to lawmakers for help "may well mean that the industry will face some significant regulation by early next year."

In early May, the Federal Reserve proposed new rules to prohibit unfair practices regarding credit cards and overdraft services that would, among other provisions, protect consumers from unexpected increases in the rate charged on pre-existing credit card balances. The Fed is still soliciting comments on the proposed changes - although the comment window closes later this month. The comments are posted publicly on the Fed's web site - so far, over 9,800 comments have been submitted.

Ohio Treasurer of State Richard Cordray a few weeks ago asked Ohioans to provide his office with their comments on credit card issuer practices they consider unfair. Cordray intends to forward those comments on to the federal agencies and lawmakers considering new rules concerning certain credit card practices. In a Q&A, Cordray shares what he's seeing in some of the comments his office has received.

Javelin has announced a new report titled "Credit Card Satisfaction—An Effective Acquisition and Retention Strategy Must Focus on Multiple Facets of the Relationship". The report analyzes consumer perceptions affecting selection of a credit card issuer, as well as choosing a card at the point of transaction.   » Continue Reading

Discover Financial Services has reported net income for the second quarter of 2008 of $234 million, or $.48 per share, as compared to $209 million, or $.44 per share, in the second quarter of 2007. Managed loans grew 2% to $47.8 billion while sales volume on Discover Cards grew 2% to $22.5 billion in the quarter.   » Continue Reading

In an article titled "Nobody's Snapping Up GE's Plastic", Robin Sidel writes for the Wall St. Journal about GE's efforts to sell its $30 billion credit card business because of potential buyer concerns about consumers' ability to repay their credit card debts. In particular, there's concern that GE's private label portfolio could rank lower in consumers' payment hierarchy when times are tough.

In his Washington Post column today (scroll down to the bottom of that page), Jeffrey H. Birnbaum writes about the activity in the House Judiciary Committee as it considers legislation that would "force credit card companies to reduce the fees they charge merchants." He writes about visits paid on lawmakers last week by banking industry representations.

On Saturday, Eric Dash of the New York Times reported on how some credit card issuers are reducing the amount of available credit on their credit cards for millions of Americans. In addition, he notes that mail solicitations for new cards and credit balance transfers are also off this year.

In an article titled "Card Issuers Get Personal To Check Credit", Robin Sidel writes for the Wall St. Journal about how credit card issuers are beginning to consider factors other than credit scores in determining the amount of credit they'll extend on their credit cards.

Glenbrook's Bryan Derman reflects on last week's actions by the FDIC and the FTC against CompuCredit and its sponsoring banks - and wondering how this new focus by the regulators on the activities of third parties might affect some other bank businesses in the US.

Federal Reserve Governor Randall S. Kroszner gave a speech earlier today titled "Protecting Consumers in the Credit Marketplace" at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Community Development Policy Summit in which he spoke to the Fed's activities with respect to better information disclosure to consumers about credit card terms as well as preventing certain "abusive practices" by credit card issuers.

In a speech given today by Barack Obama in Chicago, he commented on the credit card industry: "But many more Americans aren’t falling into debt because they made an irresponsible decision; they’re falling into debt because credit card companies are pushing them over the edge. For too long, credit card companies have been using unfair and deceptive practices to trick Americans into signing agreements they can’t afford."

In addition to today's action by the Federal Trade Commission against CompuCredit, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has issued enforcement actions against CompuCredit and two FDIC-supervised banks "for allegedly marketing subprime credit cards in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act) The FDIC settled with a third bank also involved with CompuCredit." The third bank was Columbus Bank and Trust, Columbus, Georgia, a wholly owned banking subsidiary of Synovus Financial Corp.   » Continue Reading

The Federal Trade Commission has announced the filing of a lawsuit charging CompuCredit Corporation and its wholly-owned debt collection subsidiary, Jefferson Capital Systems, LLC, with deceptive marketing practices in selling credit cards to consumers in the subprime market. The complaint is available online.

Business Week's cover story this week is titled "Banks vs. Consumers (Guess Who Wins)" - an article by Robert Berner and Brian Grow that takes a look into how credit card issuers in the US use arbitration to handle cardholder disputes saying it is "a system in which it is exceedingly difficult for individuals to prevail." The article focuses on the role played by National Arbitration Forum (NAF), a for-profit company based in Minneapolis.

AT&T and Citi have announced the launch of the AT&T Universal Business Rewards Card that rewards small business owners for their purchases and also provides them with a prescription drug benefits program and an around-the-clock personal business assistant.   » Continue Reading

Orbitz Worldwide has introduced a new Orbitz Visa Credit Card powered by Capital One No Hassle Rewards, a new credit card that it says "makes it easy for travelers to earn triple Capital One No Hassle Rewards points by booking airfare, hotel accommodations and vacation packages on Orbitz.com."   » Continue Reading

Bankrate.com has published its latest look at credit cards with cash-back rewards features. Leslie McFadden writes: "When it comes to rewards credit cards, Americans love cash back. According to TNS Global's Financial Services research, 57.4 percent of rewards cardholders have cash-back cards."

Citi has announced it is offering its cardholders "an exciting, new benefit on participating credit cards called Extra Cash from Citi that allows customers to earn discounts on some of the biggest and most popular names in travel, entertainment and merchandise -- just for using their card."   » Continue Reading

In a blog post titled "5 ways to prepare today for the risk of lower interchange revenue tomorrow", Aneace Haddad lists what he thinks card issuers in the US and Europe should be thinking about if they're evaluating the scenario that interchange fees could be reduced.

Visa has announced an expansion of its fraud recovery process to include Plus and Interlink ATM network transactions to better help financial institutions recoup counterfeit fraud losses. The extension becomes effective November 1, 2008.   » Continue Reading

Maria Aspan reports for the American Banker (subs. reqd) that L.L. Bean has posted on its web site that it will be terminating its current relationship with Bank of America, issuer of the L.L. Bean Visa card, effective at the end of June. On its web site, the retailer says it will be providing information about a new L.L. Bean Visa card in the coming weeks.

Citi has announced enhancements to its Citi Diamond Preferred suite of cards - saying the cards now offer 'an array of exceptional privileges and benefits typically found only in fee-based rewards credit cards -- all for no annual fee.'   » Continue Reading

Cards&Payments has released the results of its Annual Bankcard Profitability Study finding that credit card issuers in 2007 generated a sizeable profit, though down slightly from the previous year. According to the study, the industry posted a collective after-tax return on assets of $18.08 billion, or 2.79% of average outstandings - down 1.58% from $18.37 billion and 2.97% in 2006.   » Continue Reading

The Washington Post carries a Kiplinger.com story in today's personal finance section about Sam Sweet and how he's been effective at negotiating lower credit card interest rates from his card issuers. His strategy: he simply doesn't take "no" for an answer - typically escalating all the way to the president's office for each issuer.

Celent has published a new report titled 'Disruption in the Payments World' saying that 'the current euphoric era for many issuers will be disrupted and quite possibly eliminated over the next three years.' Why? Celent's reasons include a forecast that interchange rates will begin to decline, that a large payments company will launch an alternative network to MasterCard and Visa, and that credit card issuers will need to diversify their payments mix by adding decoupled debit payment options.   » Continue Reading

Discover Financial Services has announced that its Discover Card was ranked No. 1 in customer loyalty among leading credit card brands, according to the 2008 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index report. Brand Keys identifies the four most important drivers of brand loyalty in the credit card category as Rewards and Services; Fees and Flexibility; Ease and Speed of Interactions; and Protection and Precision. Discover Card has won the credit card category in the index 11 years in a row.   » Continue Reading

In her Thursday column titled 'Your Losing Hand', Michele Singletary reports for the Washington Post on last week's proposed rule changes by the US financial regulators re: credit cards. She writes: 'Although regulators are proposing to eliminate some of the more unsavory practices of the industry, many cardholders -- regardless of class, education or income -- can only win by not playing the credit card game.'

That's the title of a Dallas Morning News editorial this morning commenting on last week's proposed rules changes that says 'enough is enough.' The editorial continues: 'New regulation is overdue. Creditors have been free to hike interest rates at any time and for any reason – and then apply the new rate to purchases the consumer has already made.'

In a column titled 'Banks' credit card bluster rings hollow', Los Angeles Times consumer reporter David Lazarus writes: 'I just love it when the credit card industry threatens to take its toys and go home.'

In an editorial yesterday titled The Fed Aims at Credit Cards, the New York Times responded to the Fed's announcement on Friday about rule changes to address what it called "unfair practices" by credit card issuers and retail bank overdraft fees. The editorial called the proposed rules a "modest step forward" and quoted Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York (author of her own "Credit Cardholder's Bill of Rights" legislation) saying "there are abusive, abusive, abusive practices going on now."

A coalition of consumer, labor and civil rights groups yesterday lauded what they called tough new legislation to prohibit abusive and unfair credit card practices, introduced by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd. In a letter of support for the legislation , the groups noted that “as the U.S. economy tightens, financially vulnerable families need the protections of the Credit CARD Act more than ever.”   » Continue Reading

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, yesterday introduced legislation to 'improve credit card billing, marketing, and disclosure practices.' According to Dodd, 'the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act (the C.A.R.D. Act) is aimed at stopping credit card practices that drag consumers into staggering amounts of debt, and too often harm, rather than help, the ability of American families to move up the economic ladder.'

Dodd introduced similar legislation in 2005 that died in Committee. This year, Politico.com reports that 'Democrats believe the issue is an election-year winner, offering their candidates a way to get out in front of the current economic turmoil and target an industry reviled by consumers. Both Democratic presidential rivals — Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton — have plans addressing credit card abuses.'   » Continue Reading

Damian Paletta writes for the Wall St. Journal that "the Federal Reserve and two other regulators [OTS and NCUA] plan to propose strict policies on credit-card issuers after criticism that card companies charge too many hidden fees and unfairly raise interest rates on borrowers." He says the plan is expected to be introduced by the Fed at a meeting this Friday.

Fair Isaac has announced the release of TRIAD adaptive control system version 8.3 providing credit grantors with access to 'improved flexibility and processing capabilities that accelerate the development and implementation of profitable decisions in account and customer management, at both the enterprise and portfolio levels.' Fair Isaac says that 65% of bankcards globally are processed on a Fair Isaac adaptive control system.   » Continue Reading

The issue here is mandatory arbitration clauses in US credit card issuer agreements. Leslie Gevirtz reports for Reuters that the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has 'reinstated a class-action suit Friday against a group of banks that force their credit card customers to use arbitration instead of the courts to settle disputes.' The court's full decision is available online.

TSYS has announced the renewal of a long-term agreement with Target Corporation to service its REDcard portfolio. The multi-year agreement will include systems processing for the Target Visa Credit Card, Target Credit CardS, Target Check Card and the Target Business Card. According to TSYS, Target was recently named by the Nilson Report as one of the top-five Visa credit card issuers, with more than 21.4 million accounts on file. Target began working with TSYS in 2000 for the launch of its Visa product. TSYS began supporting the Target Credit Card portfolio in 2005.   » Continue Reading

SunTrust has announced the launch of its Enterprise Spend Platform - calling it 'an industry-leading end-to-end commercial card management solution, offering businesses, government entities and non-profits comprehensive online capabilities for control beyond simple card management in travel and entertainment, procurement and payables.'   » Continue Reading

TowerGroup has published a new report titled 'Pointing in the Right Direction: Rethinking Card Payment Rewards in a Challenged Economy' by Brian Riley, senior research analyst in the Bank Cards practice that examines existing reward and loyalty programs and explores how credit card issuers may rework their programs to inspire customers to maintain the terms of their accounts.   » Continue Reading

Ethan Cohen-Cole, a financial economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, has published a working paper titled 'Credit Card Redlining' that 'evaluates the presence of racial disparities in the issuance of consumer credit. Using a unique and proprietary database of credit histories from a major credit bureau, this paper links location-based information on race with individual credit files. After controlling for the influence of such other place-specific factors as crime, housing vacancy rates, and general population demographics, the paper finds qualitatively large differences in the amount of credit offered to similarly qualified applicants living in Black versus White areas."' In a commentary about Cohen-Cole's paper on the Credit Slips blog, Adam Levitin writes 'what this all speaks to is the need for greater transparency in the credit card industry, including the collection of more publicly available data.'

Jane J. Kim writes for the Wall St. Journal about Capital One's changing of interest rates on some of its credit cards from variable to fixed rates. With a fixed rate, any further reductions in interest rates as the result of Federal Reserve actions aren't passed along to the cardholder as lower interest charges.

U.S. Bank and Anheuser-Busch have announced they are partnering to offer the Budweiser Rewards Visa Platinum Card that will enable cardmembers to earn points toward gift cards good for Anheuser-Busch merchandise.   » Continue Reading

The Wall St. Journal has an editorial this morning about the Credit Card Fair Fee Act introduced by House Democrat John Conyers of Michigan and Republican Chris Cannon of Utah. 'The Conyers-Cannon bill requires that any credit card company with more than 20% of the credit and debit market -- Visa has about 50% and MasterCard 25% -- negotiate for 90 days with a coalition of retailers on a mutually acceptable fee. (The retailers would gain an antitrust exemption for these deliberations.) If the parties can't agree, a three-person panel of "electronic payment judges" will "determine rates and terms" which shall be binding. That sounds like a price-control regime.'

Separately, today's New York Times editorial page had an editorial titled 'Plastic Card Tricks' saying that 'Washington needs to change the way these companies [credit card issuers] do business to ensure that consumers are treated fairly.' Further: 'Congress needs to address numerous unfair practices, including interest rates that skyrocket for no apparent reason and due dates that suddenly shift — forward — so that an unwary consumer pays late.'

Over on the Credit Slips blog, Adam Levitin writes about his own recent experience attempting to dispute a charge on his credit card resulting from a merchant error.

Forrester has published a new report titled 'Customer Relationship Snapshot: Credit Card Providers' by Bruce D. Temkin based on a survey of nearly 5,000 US consumers.   » Continue Reading

On February 27, JPMorganChase held an Investor Day with presentations by senior executives from across its business. A webcast archive of each presentation along with the accompanying presentations are available online. Included are a Chase Card Services presentation by Gordon Smith and a Retail Financial Services presentation by Charlie Scharf. JPMorganChase is in the news today following its announcement late yesterday that it is acquiring Bear Stearns.

In his New York Times article today, Joe Nocera quotes from an article titled "Red Ink Rising" by Dean Starkman published in this month's Columbia Journalism Review. Starkman's primary point is how the business and financial press focused only on "traditional earnings and marketing stories" while what he calls a "radical shift" was underway as the credit card industry "shifted from a lending and underwriting paradigm to a sales paradigm; penalties, fees, and default interest at rates that were illegal a generation ago are no longer regrettable outcomes to be avoided but central to the business model."

In an article titled 'Credit Cards Are Frothy, Not Bubbly', Joe Nocera writes for the New York Times about the current state of the credit card industry and why it's likely that the 'credit card companies will actually do O.K. while the rest of us suffer.'

[Editor's note: Nocera is the author of 'A Piece of the Action: How the Middle Class Joined the Money Class' published in 1995 that tells, among other things, the early history of the credit card industry. It's one of our recommended books for payments professionals.]

Andrea Coombes writes for MarketWatch.com that, according to a survey by IndexCreditCards.com, the average credit card interest rate is at a two year low of 13.29% on cards without rewards features. For cards with rewards programs, the average interest rate has dropped to 15.15%.

In an article titled ''Muscle' Silences Credit Card Adversaries', Vija Udenans writes for ABC News about yesterday's US House subcommittee hearing on credit card issuer practices and why five consumers who were originally scheduled to testify didn't. A webcast archive of the hearing is available. Elizabeth Warren (one of yesterday's witnesses) writes about the issue on the Credit Slips blog.

In today's "Heard on the Street" column in the Wall St. Journal, Peter Eavis looks at the growth in Target's credit card outstandings - up 29% to $8.62 billion vs. last year.

In a post titled "Credit Squeeze", Elizabeth Warren writes for the Credit Slips blog about Business Week's story about credit card issuers holding firm to interest rates.

In an article titled 'Exposing the Credit-Card Fine Print', Anita Hamilton writes for Time about credit card issuer practices regarding interest rate adjustments. Hamllton writes that 'with politicians angry with the bankers over the subprime fiasco, the heat is rising on the industry's credit-card segment.'

On the Credit Slips blog, Adam Levitin examines the legislation recently introduced by Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) called the The Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights of 2008 (H.R. 5244). Levitin says the proposed legislation "is an important first step to reining in an industry that has run wild in a regulatory no-man’s land of outdated and threadbare federal laws, preempted state laws, and somnolent consumer protection by federal banking regulators. The Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights is a major piece of federal consumer protection legislation that will help shield consumers from the worst abuses of the card industry."

Capital One has announced the Preferred No Hassles Miles card, a card that it says "offers small business owners double rewards for travel and entertainment purchases."   » Continue Reading

In a press release today, APACS, on behalf of the UK credit card industry, said it "welcomes the OFT’s report on improvements that can be made to help consumers compare credit cards. The industry is committed to working with the OFT and the FSA to deliver the full package of recommendations including the impartial comparison website. APACS believes this new website – to be developed and hosted by the FSA – will be an important additional tool in a customer’s arsenal to enable them to make informed choices about the card that best suits their need."   » Continue Reading

The UK's Office of Fair Trading has published its report into credit card comparisons , making a series of recommendations to help consumers choose a credit card. According to the OFT, "the report follows a super-complaint from Which? that highlighted that consumers choose credit cards without understanding all the issues that affect the cost of the card. OFT research shows that 70 percent of credit card holders did not shop around before selecting their current card, and that this meant they could be placing themselves at a financial disadvantage."   » Continue Reading

In an article titled 'The Coming Credit-Card Crunch,' Aleksandra Todorova writes for SmartMoney about an expected spillover from the subprime mortgage crisis to credit card debt. According to Todorova, 'credit-card debt, like mortgages, is sold to investors in the form of asset-backed securities. The more consumers default on credit cards, the more these investors have to lose and, much like the situation with mortgage-backed securities, they may start shying away from these investments.'

Ron Shevlin writes on his Marketing ROI blog about Capital One's Card Lab. Shevlin's verdict? "Card Lab is a winner"

You've probably already seen the ads. Capital One Financial Corporation has announced the launch of the Capital One Card Lab, calling it "a convenient online tool designed to help consumers select from a menu of terms and options to build their own credit card. The Capital One Card Lab site offers an array of options related to interest rate, annual fee, rewards and even the design on the front of their card and allows consumers to select the combination of features that are most important to them."   » Continue Reading

In an article titled 'Getting the Best From Cards Teaser Rates', Jane J. Kim writes for the Wall St. Journal about the latest offers from credit card issuers who she says have "started rolling out a spate of eye-opening teaser offers."

RBC and Visa Canada have announced they are teaming up to be "the first in Canada to pilot a mobile payment service that uses cellphones rather than traditional credit cards for making Visa purchases. This Ontario-based pilot is expected to be completed in 2008, and involve multiple phases including in-lab testing, an RBC staff pilot and a consumer trial." A video is available.   » Continue Reading

In an article titled 'The $915B bomb in consumers' wallets', Peter Gumbel writes for Fortune about increasing concerns that credit-strapped consumers may accelerate the delinquency rates for US credit card issuers. He suggests looking at the experience in the UK - saying it's about 18 months ahead of the US in the current credit cycle. He notes that "credit card delinquencies and charge-off rates in Britain have risen as much as 50%".

In an article titled 'Barclays becomes major credit card player', Leslie A. Poppas writes for the Wilmington News Journal about Barclay's US credit card business. "While employment at other credit card issuers in the area has decreased, employment at Barclays has tripled since the London bank bought Juniper for $293 million in December 2004. This month, Barclays hired its 1,000th Delaware employee and now employs 1,012 people in the state..."

American Express has announced financial results for the third quarter - reporting that "third quarter diluted EPS from continuing operations" increased 18% over last year. Worldwide billed business grew 16% to $162.5 billion, worldwide cards in force great 11% to 84.7 million, and worldwide average spending per proprietary card increased 8% to $3,006 in the quarter.

Chase Card Services has announced what it is calling "the first-ever MasterCard World for Business credit cards" with the introduction of the new Continental Airlines World MasterCard for Business and the GM Business Card World MasterCard. The new GM card will include blink, Chase's contactless payment feature.   » Continue Reading

Bank of America has announced the re-launch of the BankAmericard. According to the bank, "the original BankAmericard credit card, the first nationally accepted bank credit card, changed the landscape of financial opportunity and convenience for consumers. Today's BankAmericard Rewards Visa card builds on that heritage of innovation, offering one of the industry's richest and most flexible rewards programs with no annual fee."   » Continue Reading

Citigroup reported third quarter financial results this morning - including reporting a revenue decline of 2% in its US credit card business that it attributed to lower securitization results. Citi reported its average managed loans for its card business were flat on a 6% increase in purchase sales. Eric Dash reports for the New York Times about the bank's situation with respect to its US consumer business - including concerns "that Citigroup has woefully underinvested in its computer systems for years."

US households will receive approximately 5.3 billion offers for new credit cards during 2007 according to Mail Monitor, the credit card direct mail tracking service from global market research company Synovate.   » Continue Reading

The U.S. Public Interest Research Group has launched Truth about Credit, a web site that focuses on what it calls the "out-of-control marketing and unfair practices of the credit card industry, with a focus on college campuses." It is attempting to get colleges to agree to its "Principles of Responsible College Credit Card Marketing".

J.D. Power and Associates has announced the results of its 2007 Credit Card Satisfaction Study - finding that American Express ranks highest among credit card issuers in overall customer satisfaction followed closely by Discover.   » Continue Reading

Bruce Mohl writes for the Boston Globe about Citi's recent mailing of 3.5 million MasterCards to Macy's private label customers whose accounts have been inactive.

Selena Maranjian writes for The Motley Fool about a recent Public Citizen report examining the credit card industry's practices with respect to requiring mandatory arbitration of disputes with cardholders.

"An Economic Assessment of Regulating Credit Card Fees and Interest Rates" , a new study sponsored by the American Bankers Association by economists Jonathan Orszag and Susan Manning, concludes that "placing further legislative restrictions on credit card interest rates and fees is likely to harm the vast majority of consumers, most of whom manage credit cards successfully."   » Continue Reading

Public Citizen has published a report titled "The Arbitration Trap: How Credit Card Companies Ensnare Consumers" (PDF). In a press release, the organization said "Public Citizen pulls back the curtain to reveal the cozy and dangerous relationship between credit card companies and the private arbitration firms that decide their binding mandatory arbitration cases. The result of an eight-month investigation, the report provides, for the first time, a comprehensive analysis of data on nearly 34,000 arbitration cases, and in-depth stories of credit cardholders and their struggles in this nightmarish system."

Paul Wenske writes for the Kansas CIty Star about a Capital One customer's recent experience having the interest rate on her No Hassle Miles Card increased from 9.99% to 15.9%. Wenske concludes: "She plans to collect her awards and drop her Capital One card. Too much hassle."