[iopq]

They are smart enough to make all their grifts "fees" and "interest rates"

For example, charging 17% on a credit card bill when the interest rate is 5.25%

and that's on excellent credit like mine where I haven't missed a payment in almost 20 years

[sob727]

If you think the terms are unfair to you, you have the option to not do business with this particular bank. If all banks do the same, have you thought there's a financial reason behind it that you might not be aware of (say, default rate, operational costs, etc).

[iopq]

for people with credit over 800 the default rate must be extremely low

otherwise I wouldn't have this credit rating and the bank wouldn't trust me with over $100,000 credit limit combined over all of my credit cards

the reason I agree to this rate is because I never pay it, I loan from my broker instead where I pay like a few bips over LIBOR

[jstummbillig]

There are important distinctions between fraud and greed. For one, you can know the conditions.

[Grustaf]

Selling an expensive product or service is very different from committing fraud or stealing. There are plenty of practices within banking that are a lot more immoral than charging high fees.

[jjav]

> They are smart enough to make all their grifts "fees" and "interest rates"

> For example, charging 17% on a credit card bill when the interest rate is 5.25%

That's not fraud or a financial crime though, since the interest rate is prominently shown on the front page of every credit card bill.

If they're telling you it is 6% and then charge you 17% without explanation, that would be fraud.

[iopq]

For example, payday loans are explicit in saying they will charge you a percentage of your payday for a 14 day loan. But if you do the math, it's about 1000% interest annually

It's not a crime either, but it's predatory