Sleazy Bankers

Capital One, one of the nation’s largest issuers of credit cards, is being sued by the State of Minnesota for false advertising, consumer fraud and deceptive trade practices. They’re accused of using bait-and-switch tactics by promising fixed interest rates to consumers, and then jacking up their interest rates by up to 400%.

40% of Capital One’s fixed rate customers in Minnesota have had their interest rates drastically increased. The tiniest error by the consumer – if your payment is one day late, for example – can cause the interest rate to skyrocket.

Another Capital One tactic is to lower someone’s credit limit without notifying them, and then penalize them with higher interest rates when they unknowingly go over their credit limit.

They also constantly check their customers’ credit reports (often monthly), and if they find a late payment on any other (unrelated) loans, they’ll use this as an excuse to raise the interest rate, even if the customer has a perfect payment record with Capital One.

Now, where are all of our moralists and self-appointed guardians at a time like this? Didn’t the Bible mention something about Jesus driving the moneylenders from the temple? When a giant corporation – with godlike power over the “legislators” who are supposed to be “regulating” them – cheats millions of its customers, where’s the outrage? Corporate sleaze never draws a peep out of the sanctimonious types who go absolutely berserko over gay marriage, marijuana and abortion.

I guess everybody has their priorities.