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The American Express Optima card will undoubtedly add to the intense pressure being put on banks and department stores to reduce their interest rates. Across the U.S., public officials and consumer groups are angry that credit-card charges have stayed high in recent years while other lending rates have sharply dropped. Two bills have been introduced in Congress that would establish national ceilings for credit-card interest. Six states -- Arkansas, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin -- already limit that interest.
Last week Illinois State Treasurer Jerry Cosentino closed state accounts at the American National Bank of Chicago, in which about $485 million is deposited annually. The bank had refused to lower its credit-card interest rate from 19.8% to about 14%. American National was the second Illinois bank to be hit with such a sanction by Cosentino.
Another irritation for some consumers is that banks are changing the rules about interest payments. Traditionally, for example, Visa and MasterCard holders have had 30 days in which to pay their bills in full before finance charges began. Now, however, dozens of banks have started to charge interest as soon as purchases are made.
Perhaps the most significant change adding to the turmoil in the credit- card industry is the advent of tax reform. Some experts think the new law will slow down the use of plastic credit because it phases out deductions for interest on card balances. But some banks are getting around that problem by linking Visa cards or MasterCards to a home-equity credit line. Interest on these home loans is still fully deductible. Customers can therefore get a credit line against their homes that permits them to run up as much as $100,000 in interest-deductible card charges. But, warns Edward Kramer, senior vice president for the Dime Savings Bank of New York, which offers such a Visa card, "it's important to remember that this is a lien on your home."
As competition in the credit-card business intensifies, many lenders are blatantly trying to lure customers from rivals. People's Bank of Connecticut, which charges an unusually low 11.5% interest on its MasterCard, will lend people the money they need to pay off other credit-card balances and switch to its card. Buffalo-based Empire of America bank now offers its customers a novel choice. They can pay 18% interest on purchases with a Visa Classic card and enjoy the traditional 30-day grace period, or they can pay just 13.7% on a Visa Lite and tote up interest from Day 1. Tastes great, but it is more filling.