Mortgage Meltdown Affects Your Credit Card

According to USA Today, banks such as Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America are boosting interest rates on credit cards in an effort to make up for the money they are losing on bad mortgage loans, even as the Federal Reserve continues to slash rates.

"Advocates say they fear that as employers shed jobs and housing values sink, more people will see their credit card rates raised to as much as 32%.Such penalty pricing can kick in if consumers pay late by just one minute or exceed their credit limit once. "

To protect yourself, please make sure that you are reading the fine print on your credit card statements. Banks are typically required to inform consumers of generally "material" changes in terms, such as interest rate, but too often consumers are unaware of how much they are actually paying in interest until it is too late.