Five Reasons To Switch To A Credit Union Credit Card
From: Forbes
Since the second part of a federal bill known as the CARD Act went into effect on Monday, credit cards have become a lot friendlier to consumers. Credit card companies are now prohibited from a long list of dirty business practices ranging from switching the date that a customer’s bill is due to retroactively raising interest rates. (For more, check out “Credit Card Law Changes: What You Need to Know.”)
But because so many of the outlawed practices were also huge revenue generators for the companies issuing cards, financial institutions have responded by preemptively raising interest rates across the board and introducing new fees. Citigroup ( C – news – people ) informed some customers that they would owe $90 if they don’t charge at least $2,400 a year, while American Express ( AXP – news – people ) and Bank of America ( BAC – news – people ) have each introduced annual fees for some cards as high as $100. Even those with pristine credit are paying at least two percentage points more in interest this year, according to a study by LowCards.com.
If you feel like your credit card company is trying to bleed you with new fees, there is a better way: opt for a credit card issued by a credit union. These nonprofit financial institutions are owned by members, who typically share some sort of affiliation like working at the same university or being a member of a teacher’s union.
While credit unions issue the same Visa and MasterCards as for-profit institutions like JP Morgan Chase ( JPM – news – people ) and Wells Fargo ( WFC – news – people ), these cards come with a number of protections and benefits that you won’t get elsewhere.
Here are five reasons to switch to a credit card issued by a federal credit union.
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