Banks are taking desperate measures these days. It looks like they are targeting their most profitable customers: those with a good payment history and who carry a balance. Also, Bank of America is probably counting on the fact that credit offers for balance transfers may dry up in the current environment... They are probably checking the cushions of their customer chairs every night as well :)

I would say that your assessment is as accurate as any I seen, IMHO.
Consumers are becoming smarter and more aggressive in their retailiation, when they feel they haven't been treated right. And I do not blame them, and from what you have said, you don't either.

I am wondering how far this will reach. For me, the corporate MSM, it's advertisers and their products, should be the next victim in the consumer rebellion. I find the facts offered in the better blogs (those which link to the sources) are usually superior to MSM, (especially the talking heads), and TiVo skips the commercials. Word of mouth, for me, is the strongest advertisement for a good product.

We shall see how this plays out. It will be interesting to see what our free market capitalism will look like in a few years.

Thank golly goodness the bankruptcy bill was passed so people can't default on their credit card debt. At least we have that much to be thankful for. I'm praying to my personal deity, thanking them for lobbyists and a Republican dominated Congress.

Makes me wonder if this is fallout from their 'rescue' of Countrywide.

However it's also true that banks don't make as much profit from credit card holders who pay off their balances every month.

If you have a BoA card and your payments are current and have been for a long while, and they jack up your APR for no apparent reason, call them up and complain. My wife did and she got them to reduce the interest rate. When she paid off the balance in full, they made a "mistake" where charged interest they shouldn't have (amounting to about $7), and assessed a late fee on top of that, which according to their reading of the agreement, allowed them to jack up the APR again. She called and complained again, they agreed that everything was a mistake, and backed down.

Just call, keep calling, keep calling. Ask to talk to a manager, then his/her manager. If something is "out of their hands" or they can't "change the policy," don't accept that. Get names and departments--tell new contacts at different departments what other people told you, as you understand it.

If you get credit card junk mail, take all identifying information out of the invitation, rip up the rest, and send it back to them in the return envelope ("no postage necessary!")

Eventually, enough attorneys general will catch the zeitgeist and start investigating (credit card companies are limited by certain state laws). That is, until the AGs get enough in campaign contributions to make the whole thing go away.

I don't see a consumer strike as such coming. All the choice talk assumes that you can just costlessly walk from one mousetrap maker to another. There are a lot of entanglements. The difficulties, outrages even, aren't just credit cards. Regular banking, phone service, cable, broadband access, medical services, et al., all demand enormous time, more carefulness than most people devote to them, and more knowledge (I hate to seem disdainful, but I'd guess that the majority of Americans have pretty weak knowledge of very, very basic finance) than most have.

However, people do/will feel screwed. I just don't think that the usual response will be to punish only the greedy through considered action. It's the cynicism, the sense of victimization that's likely to be bad for the society. On the other hand, loss of regard for business is long overdue, so it may turn out well. But there will be more change than just a suddenly educated consumerate.

The only way to go. I haven't used a bank in 25 years.

Although for small business accounts B of A has a much better reputation. I would not use any bank for personal use, though.

Every state has usury laws:
http://www.lectlaw.com/files/ban02.htm

Problem is, as Wikipedia notes:

In 1980, due to inflation, national banks (banks that generally include N.A. in their name), federally chartered savings banks, installment plan sellers and chartered loan companies were exempted from state usury limits by the federal government through a special law. This effectively overrode all state and local usury laws.

So, let's just repeal the god-damned (and I use that term accurately, I believe) 1980 law, and let states start cracking down again.

Also, I think it was here on the Agonist that someone noted that if we really want a fast, permanent stimulus that will really help the most people, we should mandate a drastic reduction in credit card interest rates. The impact is immediate.

The problem with businesses today is they are no longer satisfied with a normal profit; they expect an excess profit. A normal profit used to be considered somewhere around 10% above expenses.

These credit card companies have set up their main headquarters in states without good usuary laws. They've also been busy adding items to their card agreements that work very unfavorably to the consumer.
Items like universal default, for instance.

Don't bet on consumers not reacting to this latest move by B of A. I had the same experience back in July with Capital One. I received a notice that interest rates were rising and they could no longer offer a fixed rate and were switching everyone to a variable rate.

My fixed rate was 9.90% and I have a credit rating of over 800, and do carry a balance so there is no way I was a bad credit risk or that they weren't making money. I tried calling the phone number they gave to ask to stay on the fixed rate but it was no dice.

I think they did not like it I was making huge payments in an effort to pay off my card in less than a year. I cancelled and paid off the card and wrote them a letter telling them about all the anti-consumer clauses they've been putting in their agreements and also told them the switch to a variable rate was the last straw and I would not tolerate it. The offer was you could keep the fixed rate and pay off your card if you declined to accept the variable rate that was over 15% at the time.

After I refused to accept the switch I read that many, many of Capital One's cardholders had done the same.

I think there is hope that Bank of America will get the same results.

After Capitol One hiked my interest from 4.9 to 9.9 due to a "business decision" they told me, I transferred my balance to BofA. my 0% became 9.9 plus a hefty transfer fee and a late fee when they did not send me my statement in November.

I paid off the last of the balance and am closing all credit cards, period. I've had credit cards for 20 years and never had a problem until about two years ago. Crooks!!

I believe their failed business model is finally catching up. Extend credit to anyone with a pulse, and when they start losing their asses to delinquency/non-payment because of these lousy loan practices stick it to the ones who will pay, the ones with good credit.

I remember in the 80's-90's being told you neeeded credit and atleast one credit card. Or, "you will always have a car payment". Bah! The only party that benefits are the banks. If you don't have the money, don't buy it.