MBNA Credit Card Review
In June of 2005 Bank of America acquired MBNA, making Bank of
America the largest credit card empire in financial history. What
this means on a practical level, is that if you want an
MBNA credit card, you now have to get a Bank of American credit
card. It won’t be difficult to find one, as Bank of America now
lists over 400 different kinds of cards at their website:
http://www.bankofamerica.com/creditcards/?context_id=all_cards&RequestTimeout=120&cm_sp=CRD-_-All%20Cards-_-View%20All%20Cards
Since Bank of America’s acquisition of MBNA’s credit card
division, a controversy over whether the consolidation of unsecured
credit under monolithic giant banking institutions is a good or a
bad thing. On the positive side, Bank of America offers lots of
different credit cards. (At least, they look different, they are
advertised differently.)
On the negative side, because Bank of America owns so much of the
world’s unsecured credit debt and issues so many new cards each and
every year, if you should happen to run into problems with their
policies regarding fees or interest rates, then what? It’s kind of
like that old bad joke about the guy with the pet 600 pound gorilla.
Where does that pet gorilla sleep? Anywhere it wants, that’s where!
What Bank of America wants is to hike the interest rate on your
credit card to 29.99% if you are late with one payment. Unless you
pay off your card every single month, religiously, on time, it’s not
a bad idea to give that fact some serious thought before making a
commitment with dreams of cash rewards dancing in your head.
Despite the wide selection of attractively designed cards with
innovative conditions and enticing rewards, you’re not making a
casual family loan agreement with your Aunt Sally when you accept to
BOA’s credit card terms. They’re not kidding, and it’s sent a lot of
people squealing to their Congresspersons over the last several
years.
It’s not all whining either: financial institutions should bear
some collective responsibility for the credit they extend and to
whom they choose to extend it, in the same way that individuals must
bear personal responsibility for the credit they accept and how they
manage it.
Are BOA’s fees excessive, or a good way to weed out irresponsible
cardholders? Right now, the rule is caveat emptor. Let the buyer
beware.
MBNA credit cards, now Bank of America credit cards, can also be
compared with other credit card deals at
Apply For A Credit Card Now.com . While reading through the
small print on credit card terms and conditions may not be your idea
of a great way to while away the hours, it can save you a great deal
of money and unpleasantness down the road.
Not only do most people not compare cards before choosing one; a
fair number never even read the conditions on the cards they accept.
Many people don’t even read their credit card bills. Before long,
the phone is ringing, and the interest rate is 29.99%. By that
point, the phone isn’t getting answered either.
Chances are good that Bank of America will continue to gobble up
other banks and financial institutions for the near future, and it’s
not all bad. Several credit cards at the BOA site offer 1.9%
introductory rates for the first year if you qualify, some even
offer a full year at 0% on balance transfers. It is still possible
to make a great deal on unsecured credit if you take your time and
think it all through.
Just make sure to read everything, even and especially the little
tiny boring print. Then read it again. Then sleep on it, and read it
again.
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