Paying for other people’s bad credit card habits.

Bluntly? Somebody else can do that. I’m not interested.

Credit Card Industry Aims to Profit From Sterling Payers

Credit cards have long been a very good deal for people who pay their bills on time and in full. Even as card companies imposed punitive fees and penalties on those late with their payments, the best customers racked up cash-back rewards, frequent-flier miles and other perks in recent years.

Now Congress is moving to limit the penalties on riskier borrowers, who have become a prime source of billions of dollars in fee revenue for the industry. And to make up for lost income, the card companies are going after those people with sterling credit.

Banks are expected to look at reviving annual fees, curtailing cash-back and other rewards programs and charging interest immediately on a purchase instead of allowing a grace period of weeks, according to bank officials and trade groups.

Bolding mine, and the day that my credit card company does that specific activity is the day that the credit card gets canceled and my household switches immediately to a straight debit card / check / cash system. It will mean a little more in the way of pre-planning the month ahead of time, but it’ll be worth it not to pay the fees. Heck, we’ll end up saving more, what with having to stop and think about all those incidental little purchases that we really didn’t need anyway. It adds up.

Besides, I see no reason why I should be soaked because other people can’t learn to pay their credit card bills in full and on time. It’s a lesson that I had to personally and painfully learn myself, so they can darn well learn the same thing.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.