19h ago

Banks are keeping credit card rates high even after the CFPB rule they blamed for high APRs was killed

www.cnbc.com

Last year, banks quickly raised interest rates to record levels and added new monthly fees on credit cards when a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule threatened a key revenue source for the industry.

Now, they’re far more reluctant to reverse those steps, even after bank trade groups succeeded in killing the CFPB rule in federal court last month.

Synchrony and Bread Financial, two of the biggest players in the business of issuing branded credit cards for the likes of Amazon , Lowe’s and Wayfair

, are keeping the higher rates in place, executives said in recent conference calls.

“We feel pretty comfortable that the rule has been vacated,” Synchrony CEO Brian Doubles said on April 22. “With that said, we don’t currently have plans to roll anything back in terms of the changes that we made.”

6 comments

I just found out yesterday that my wife, who has good credit, has a 32% APR on one of her cards. Republicans that would applaud these free market behaviors but also condemn abortions are complete charlatans. I just searched and came across dozens of Bible verses about how you're not supposed to lend money with interest.

This story right here is the fundamental argument against anything pro-business conservatives and libertarians espouse about the free market. Why would any company lower their profit once they have everyone used to that level of cost? This is the most obvious outcome from the situation.