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Dec 06, 2007 -- Fee harvesting is the latest ploy by credit card companies

People with damaged credit have a new bull's-eye on their backs. The nation's banks are doing mailings for MasterCards and Visas that are just awful. They're offering cards with low credit limits of a few hundred dollars. The catch is that they charge fees to get the card that nearly equal the credit limit they've given you. This tactic has been called "fee harvesting" by the National Consumer Law Center. That's because there's a multitude of subtle fees that they load on. These can include an annual fee, a setup fee, a program fee and a participation fee. The New York Times reports that Capital One and CompuCredit are some of the worst offenders. Except for the annual fee, all of these other fees are completely bogus. You think they're doing you a big favor by taking you on as a customer. But they eliminate all their risk by hitting you upfront with huge ridiculous fees. Clark thinks practice is diabolical but pretty clever in a sad sort of way. So beware if you're suddenly getting an offer for a card and nobody else has wanted you -- it could be a fee harvesting ploy coming your way.

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This week's poll
Do you like the idea of auto insurers switching to a pay-as-you-drive model -- where how, when and where you drive may be monitored?
Yes, I'm all for any approach that can save me money.
No, it's too much like having Big Brother in the back seat.
I'm not sure. I'd like the savings, but I don't know if I'd feel comfortable being monitored.
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