In a nod to growing public scrutiny of credit card APRs, First Premier Bank has withdrawn its well-reported 59.9% credit card. The card is being replaced with a more conventional 19.9% APR secured card.
The bank originally offered the credit card with an even higher rate of 79.9%. But the company found that too many consumers ran up their bill and then didn’t pay, First Premier CEO Miles Beacom told CNNMoney last month.
The 59.9% card, which had nearly 300,000 active customers as of early February, charged more than $100 in fees per year and typically extended a credit line of about $300.
APRs promise to be a point of growing contention as issuers have raised APRs in the wake of the CARD Act and its fee revenue restrictions. More cards now have a variable rate structure tied to underlying funds indices, which are currently at rock bottom rates and can only rise from here. Growing legislative concern over lending rates has spurred the filing of the “Interest Rate Reduction Act” (H.R. 336) in the house.
Read more here: http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/16/pf/first_premier_credit_card_removed/