Nearly 34% of consumers said their credit card company had made changes to their card accounts, according to a survey from consumer education website Credit.com.

More than 1,000 people were interviewed in a telephone poll conducted from Friday through Sunday by GfK Custom Research North America.

Of those, 15% saw an increase in their interest rate, and 11% noticed an increased minimum payment requirement. Rewards programs were reduced for 8%, while 9% reported different due dates and 8% had their credit limits lowered.

In the end, 7% said their accounts are now closed. The answers total more than 34% because some respondents saw more than one change.

Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/shopping_blog/2009/02/more-than-30-of.html

Even in the best of times, carrying a balance on your credit card is a risky — and costly — proposition. These days, it can be downright foolish, at least if there’s a chance you might miss a payment or two.

Millions of cardholders have recently received letters from the likes of Citibank, Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co. and American Express Co. notifying them that their interest rates are going up, in some cases to 30% if a single payment is missed.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., the nation’s largest issuer of plastic, has begun charging hundreds of thousands of cardholders a $10 monthly fee for having carried large balances for more than a couple years.

Why? In part it’s because default rates are rising and banks are dealing with additional risk. But lawmakers and consumer advocates say the higher rates also reflect banks’ massive losses from betting wrong on the housing boom, and they’re basically sticking credit card customers with the tab.

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WASHINGTON — As the fall semester beckons and financial aid from parents and the government runs dry, more college students are turning to credit cards to pay not only for their textbooks, meals and transportation but also for tuition.

A recent survey by U.S. Public Interest Research Groups found that two-thirds of college students have at least one card, 70 percent pay their own monthly bills and 24 percent have used their cards to help pay tuition.

That helps explain why the average survey respondent will graduate with more than $2,600 in credit card debt, and those with student loans will owe nearly $3,000.

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Let’s turn our attention now to some of the options you have to eliminate your credit card debt. One straightforward way is to create a monthly budget that takes into account all of your liabilities and assets (including taxable income) and then dedicates a set amount of money per month to getting out of debt. You can engage in self-debt consolidation by moving some money around, pooling money from savings to pay off a particularly high interest credit card, for instance.

Over time, as long as your budget allows you enough debt consolidation money to pay down the principles as well as the interest your debts are earning, you can become debt free. The only drawback here is that, if you need to make a large purchase, you may be unable to do so at great rates if you’re drowning in creditor obligations.

You can try negotiating directly with creditors or mediating a negotiation through a third party. While not all creditors will consent to reduce your rates or let you off the hook for some of your debt, negotiation is often worth a shot, particularly if you’re haggling over a small matter. After all, small bad marks on your credit reports can lead to lowered FICO scores and consequently higher interest rates later.

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