Wallet Watch

Americans get outraged by tricky terms and conditions in credit cards. Congress holds hearings into these terms and conditions, but doesn’t have the votes to pass laws that would be meaningful. Seeing this, credit card banks unilaterally make their cards “fair” in anticipation of increased scrutiny over their practices. Do they work? Or is it deception?

For example, Chase touts its “Clear and Simple” plan as “easy-to-use tools and flexible account options that can help you effectively manage your Chase credit card account, maintain your best interest rate, and avoid fees.” Yet the tools that Chase offers under this plan–personalized account alerts, picking your own due date, online payments–seem to be features they already offer, just packaged together.

While their customers surely appreciate Chase putting their information in one spot, their cardholder agreements remain a tangle of legalese. And according to Consumer Action’s Credit Card Survey, Chase can change the terms of their credit card “at any time, for any reason,” thus making increased disclosure of their terms moot.

We appreciate the effort, Chase.