Capital One’s Over The Limit Policy Choices
I received a notice from Capital One that I can choose to change my Over the Limit policy.
“Your current overlimit policy allows you the ability to charge just slightly over your credit limit. However, your account will be assessed an overlimit fee if your balance exceeds your credit limit at anytime during the billing period.”
If I want, though, I could call and change this. “With this change, most overlimit charges will be declined. This will help you avoid overlimit fees.”
What exactly does “most” exclude?
- Preauthorized hotel charges
- Gasoline charges made at the pump
- Charges that are manually imprinted
- Credit card fees and finance charges
The “gasoline charges made at the pump” is the only one of them that seems unreasonable. It still annoys me that gas stations can put such a huge hold on your money, some as much as $75, for many days after your transaction has occurred. That’s a topic for another time, though.
If you have Capital One and would like to change to this new policy, call 1-800-251-6599 by August 31, 2007.
I’m positive it has to do with the criticism they’ve received over their current practices. Capital One has been known to give a consumer a credit card with a low limit. They then wait until the consumer exceeds that limit and they hit them with over the limit fees. Then, Capital One starts sending them offers for new cards in the hopes that they’ll sign up and pay fees on that new card, too.
Now, I distrust credit card companies just as much as the next person, but consumers need to be more responsible for their credit. Capital One is very good at targeting the consumer who would be taken in by these fairly transparent practices to generate revenue from fees, whether due to ignorance, desperation or carelessness.
Credit card companies are out to make the most money on their investment. They’re not in this out of the kindness of their hearts. They get:
- merchant fees (1-4% of every transaction)
- interest (I’ve seen fine print as high as 32%)
- fees from the consumer for over the limit and late payments ($39 is common) and
- transaction fees when you transfer a balance (3% with no maximum).
They’re not looking out for your best interests. That’s your job. Don’t apply for more credit out of desperation because you’ve maxed out all of your other available credit. Don’t expect debt forgiveness and, if all else fails and you feel like you’re heading towards bankruptcy, please don’t ramp up your spending anticipating getting it all wiped out. Bankruptcy doesn’t always turn out like you’d hoped or planned for. Take all of this seriously because it really can impact you for many years to come.
Related Posts:
July 17th, 2007 at 6:03 am
Heh. I have a $20k limit on CapOne. If I EVER come close to it again (remember, I once had $35k in debt, but paid it off over 4 years), I DESERVE the fee.
July 25th, 2007 at 6:24 am
Insightful post on Capital One… who ever gonna read this post will get complete credit limit information.