Slime of the Earth Award

I am officially awarding my newly-founded "Slime of the Earth" award to Bank Credit Card companies. Their tactics promoting excessive and unwise use of credit continues to astound and outrage me.

My current month's Mosaik Mastercard statement says:

"TO HELP YOU MEET UNEXPECTED FINANCIAL DEMANDS WE HAVE MADE THIS MONTH'S PAYMENT OPTIONAL. IF YOU SKIP THIS MONTH'S PAYMENT, INTEREST WILL ACCUMULATE. ..."

First of all, thanks So Much for offering such generous "help." With help like this the average person who doesn't understand the full details of credit cards is doomed to a life of indebtedness. In feudal times we called it "Indentured Servitude" and worse.

Secondly, what is the credit rate that they are offering me this generous "help" at? No less than 18.5% ! The official term for this used to be Usuary.

Merriam Webster: usury

- the lending of money at an ... unconscionable or exorbitant rate or amount of interest;

A few years back I recall a public outrage over high credit card rates that forced the banks to lower them. Then the inflation-crisis of the 80s came along and card rates soared up to their current levels. And now with bank rates down around 5%, the Cards keep charging outrageous rates and customers actually buy in.

Hello Customers! Get a bank loan at a much lower rate. Never! Never! Never, buy something on a credit card that you won't be paying off In Full at the next statement.

And speaking of statements. Have you ever noticed how credit card statements use a strange number of days for their payment cycles - never a regular calendar month? Why do you suppose that is? Could it be so we can never get into a steady rhythm of paying off our card balances each payday? And every now and then we will be hit with a double whammy -- credit card statements at the beginning and the end of the same month. Is the bank deliberately setting us up to pay this exorbitant interest on our balance?

So, in recognition of their enormous Greed and Predatory Attitude, I hereby award the first ever "Slime of the Earth" award to all Credit Card Companies who operate this way. (Which is all of them in my experience...)