Hi.
This is the straw that broke the camels back for us "so to speak"
MBNA have been told by the Financial Services Watchdog I think theyre called to help customers out of debt better, so in true MBNA style to do this they are whacking up the minimum repayment by double. Our account was alreadyfrozen because we didnt agree to there previous interest increase but the minimum payment increase was for all customers including those frozen. Thanks to MBNA we are now signing our agreements and they`ll hopefully get what we can afford to give them "which is not double"
MBNA HQ is just down the road from me, most of my friends work either for MBNA/Lloyds/Bank of Scotland/M&S money its been intresting to hear the banks tactics in getting people futher into debt. I have one friend who works for MBNA as an Debit recovery Manager, when I quized them as to what MBNA do to recover debits, he said encourage to pay, failing that their DMP with intrest at reduced rate, then to recover bad debts they hike the intrest up on those who look like they are near max limit!!! They all advise never to go over 75% of your credit limit and to pay over 10% more than your minimum payment. The banks also hike the intrest rate up on all that pay off their full balance a month hoping to get rid of them as they do not make money out of them!!!
None of my friends know about our IVA many often talk about DMP which all of their companies have their own form of one, but when I once asked about other debit solutions they said about BR and IVA and classed them as the same thing, which was not good as they cant make money out of it!
It certainly opened my eyes how the banks worked and made me feel a lot better about my IVA, I don't feel so guilty about the mess we are in, and one thing for certain I wont EVER be a customer of theirs again!!
Even if they hike up the interest rate on those who pay off their cards in full, it will make no difference as they do pay it off in full and so won't attract any interest at all! I think he's been fed a bit of duff gen there!
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
Yeah thats what I thought but he said when they get a letter telling them the intrest rate is increasing a lot will cancel the card because they dont feel like the are getting treated fairly esp as they are "good" and pay of their debts in full, little to the know the companys are only intrested in customers who get themselves into debt!!
There was a news item a few years about Barclaycard getting rid of customers who paid off their card every month - by reducing their limits. because these customer were not making the bank any profit
On the other hand though - unless you want to make a really big purchase, I can't see that reducing your credit limit is going to make you go somewhere else.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
I think that was it - they reduce the limit to below the customer monthly spend - so they went elsewhere. Must admit apart from our food budget - we use the credit card as our debit card (and pay it off monthly) as it offers a lot more protection. WE will be next !!!
I don't see how they can - it would have to be seriously low!
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
This thread is interesting. Virgin Credit (backed by MBNA) have done the same thing to me. I wrote and complained and all I got back in response was to get a text message saying I have failed to make a minimum payment. I paid the minimum plus over 10% and have done for ages now they want an extra £150 a month just to meet the minimum! This is why I am looking at the IVA route, as i really dont seem to have a choice and the company are not even bothering to communicate except by threatening calls and texts.
Rod
Most day's you feel like the statue but just once in a while you get to be the pigeon!
Rod - MBNA's increased payment criteria finished me off too. They say it's to make sure customers can clear their balances quicker but I would have paid more if I had more. So now they are going to get a lot less!!
