Obama and the Democrats could score big (with consumers, not necessarily the big financial institutions) if they choose to take on the credit card industry as advocates for consumers.
While banks are lending each other money (or not) at 0% interest and giving a paltry .5% interest or so on savings accounts, credit card companies have raised their rates exponentially. Terms of agreement are changed arbitrarily and punitively for no good reason. Turn around times for payment are dang short, especially if one lives in Alaska. Mergers have created fewer entities with more power.
I offer here specific examples of egregious credit card company behavior.
A company changes interest rates for writing a bank check on the account from 4.9% to 24.9% and notifies a person of this in eight-point type in buried somewhere in eight pages of legalese. Being an above average Kossack, I read the small print. When calling about it, they note one has indeed paid all bills on time and they aren't too sure why this change was made. I say, please don't sent me any more checks then. I won't be using them.
I continue to receive checks (and do to this day) encouraging me to use them. They are accompanied by low interest rates in big 60-point type and the no actual interest rate referenced anywhere. There is an asterix with a 6-point note about "unless other circumstances apply." I have already been notified of those "other circumstances", but I would guess 98% of folks think they are getting the lower rate when they are actually going to be charged the higher rate which is not anywhere actually disclosed on the check offers being sent to folks.
A bank sends a bill for a couple of thousand bucks transferred from another bank to their account that was never authorized. For proof (when questioned by me), they actually sent a copy of the authorization, supposedly signed by me. Yeah, I applied for the card (and signed the application), but never authorized (filled in the part) about a transfer of funds. There was no actual transfer whatsover authorized by me. There I was getting billed for the same couple of thousand dollars from two separate banks.
Lots of folks were likely getting double-billed on that scam. That one took six months and letters to federal oversight agencies before I finally got a notice from the bank to "disregard the bill". It was "an error". "Maybe someone, somewhere filled in those transfer amounts unauthorized and not filled in by you, but surely it isn't an official policy of ours to fill in information not intended on an application." No one seemed in any hurry to track down the "real" offender. Not the bank. Not the oversight agencies.
World Points offered $200 cash back upon acquiring 20,000 points. When calling to redeem points, I was notified the $200 was no longer honored; it was now $160. "You must have been notified of this change," I was told. I wasn't.
Air miles/credit card agreements also have become worth very little. There are no available days, even when reserving months in advance. Used be 10,000 miles would get me south from Juneau to the states via Seattle. Now, to redeem a flight with 10,000 miles, I must go Juneau, Anchorage, Seattle, which I pretty much refuse to do.
These are just a few examples of serious problems created by unscrupulous actions by credit card companies (and/or their partners) that consumers face regularly. That would be us.