Discover Raises Interest Rates On Some Credit Cards

I think I first heard about these rate hikes about a month ago. I didn’t have any intention of blogging about it — mostly because I didn’t think enough of my readers would care (in other words, not enough of my readers would be impacted by a rate hike that, as far as I can tell, isn’t that widespread). However, I am blogging about it today. I’m blogging about it because Discover provided a quote to the Chicago Tribune — a quote that you know other card issuers don’t have the guts to give but one that you know every card issuer could give. From the story:”Discover is re-balancing its portfolio due to the increased costs of doing business in this economy and in response to Fed rules limiting the ability to adjust rates in the future based upon elevated risk,” a spokeswoman told the Tribune in a statement late Tuesday afternoon.Finally. A card issuer that is willing to go on the record and say what we’ve all known — but couldn’t prove. Discover is lifting rates, in part, “in response to Fed rules limiting the ability to adjust rates in the future based upon elevated risk.” A preemptive strike. Get used to it. As we get closer to implementation of the new rules (July 2010), we’ll see more belt tightening by the card issuers. Read the rest of the story here.