When Jerry Cosentino talks, Illinois banks listen. The state's new treasurer is determined to force banks to reduce their interest rates for credit cards. Charging close to 20%, he says, is nothing more than "legal loan-sharking." Last week, after the First National Bank of Chicago refused to lower its 19.8% credit-card interest rate, Cosentino indignantly yanked $220 million in state deposits out of accounts at the bank. Said he: "Illinois taxpayers will not help fund this gouging of consumers any longer."
, According to Cosentino, the Marine Bank of Springfield, Ill., lowered its rate from 19% to 13% last week rather...
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