[lefty2ndbaseman]

I am being charged 30.9% by HSBC for an account I've had in good standing for over 15 years. I had a couple late payments and have been charged this exorbitant amount ever since. This was more than 2 years ago. My Credit score is still good despite this. My cardmember agreement does not specify an exact APR for late payments. The Account Manager said 30.9% is actually down from their 32.9% rate from a few months ago...I said "wow, that is quite a relief and so kind of your company ;-)

So, unless I pay off the entire balance, am I stuck with this ridiculous rate?

[Gem]

Of course you can ask, the worst that can happen is that they say no.

I would write a letter and point out how long you were in good standing and explain what happened to make you late.

Don't feel bad. I had a Providian (now WaMu) credit card for over 10 years. NEVER missed a payment, never late on a payment and they jacked my rate up to 27.9%. Bank Of America did the same thing.

So, I started paying the highest card the most money and then took a loan from my 401k to pay them off. The best feeling I have had in a long time was telling the BoA sales person to shove their company up their greedy as ses when they called to offer me a lower rate.

Thank Congress. When Congress doubled the minimum monthly payment requirement banks doubled the interest.

B*st*rds.

[golferwhoworks]

get another card and transfer the balance