Australia's credit card debt accruing interest is staggering $18 billion

[Lynda2475]

BTW, my credit card is due. I just paid it directly from a second, unrelated card. I then immediately paid off that other card in full (so I won't accrue interest on that second card). Just to see whether your assertion that it can't be done was true. Transaction went through fine.

Please name the institutions and card types involved?

If both are Australian issued credit cards (not charge card or debit cards) they are in breach of financial regulations.

 

[elanshin]

Please name the institutions and card types involved?

If both are Australian issued credit cards (not charge card or debit cards) they are in breach of financial regulations.

Ive had this happen many times now by accident on Westpac. When you select pay my card it asks which account (if internal) and your other CC is an option. It gets treated as a cash advance. I just call up the bank and get them to reverse the fees /interest given they're very easy mistakes to make.

 

[Lynda2475]

Interesting, so a poor internet banking design. Not surprising since westpac also only support 6 dgit passwords on personal accounts which doesn't meet industry standards for composition.

Will be dropping a line to them to suggest thsi loophole needs to be closed as breaches regulations. Have friends working for the regulator, wonder if they are aware?

I know if you set up auto cc payment with westpc they only accept transaction or savings accounts.

 

[Thibault]

Interesting, so a poor internet banking design. Not surprising since westpac also only support 6 dgit passwords on personal accounts which doesn't meet industry standards for composition.

This has been updated and you can now have a long and complex password.

 

[Merlin Wells]

Oh @Lynda2475 please don't start. I respect your posts but....

Teenagers getting pregnant is a poor decision too. Do they know better? Probably not but that's still not an excuse with all the education they get.

You're assuming that everyone that's in debt thinks logically and knows exactly what they're doing. If you lived a month of my life you'd either commit suicide or end up in mental institution.

There are single mothers out there that have 3 or 4 kids to different fathers and yet society takes care of them.

Why wouldn't we help gamblers and those in debt?

The first thing we should do is make gambling illegal. Especially pokies online. It achieves nothing and helps no one other than greedy criminals.

Lock down pokies and do not allow low income earners to play. No its not everyone's right to be able to play pokies and throw away money. Do you realise there are kids who do not have adequate clothing or balanced meals? Do we ignore them?

Bring down credit card interest rates. If that means some of the rich lose benefits then it's a small sacrifice for the greater good of all.

If gambling is made illegal, the state will lose a lot of annual revenue. It's not profitable for them.

 

[Rich]

John M suggest that culling awards and higher income qualifying cards will see interest rates drop. I disagree

I do like @JohnM 's points but I have to agree with you here Lynda.
Banks make a profit on cards by two means. One is interest and the other is a percentage of every purchase.
Bonus offers are to surely entice high spenders across to get a cut of their spend. Most people don't churn and after a year the bank is probably in front on spend and annual fee.

 

[JohnM]

I do like @JohnM 's points but I have to agree with you here Lynda.
Banks make a profit on cards by two means. One is interest and the other is a percentage of every purchase.
Bonus offers are to surely entice high spenders across to get a cut of their spend. Most people don't churn and after a year the bank is probably in front on spend and annual fee.

It was not me who made any comment on this thread.

A case of mistaken identity. I think that it was @JohnK being referred to.

 

[Merlin Wells]

Oh @Lynda2475 please don't start. I respect your posts but....

Teenagers getting pregnant is a poor decision too. Do they know better? Probably not but that's still not an excuse with all the education they get.

You're assuming that everyone that's in debt thinks logically and knows exactly what they're doing. If you lived a month of my life you'd either commit suicide or end up in mental institution.

There are single mothers out there that have 3 or 4 kids to different fathers and yet society takes care of them.

Why wouldn't we help gamblers and those in debt?

The first thing we should do is make gambling illegal. But there are exceptions, such as this licensed website where the best online pokies are collected. I think you can play only on it.


Bring down credit card interest rates. If that means some of the rich lose benefits then it's a small sacrifice for the greater good of all.

It's crucial to provide support and resources to help people manage and overcome their financial struggles.

 

[cove]

I read the reported write offs for US Banks and they are alarmingly high each month. In Australia losses from write offs would probably be similar like between 1% and 2% per month. Yes there are folks who just cannot help themselves with credit cards.
More education in schools could help.
Banks make larger profits out of housing loans currently as the debts are larger and typically the profit margin on most mortgages is currently a bit under 2% of the whole loan.
Banks lend money to make profits for shareholders so if you cannot beat them you buy bank shares to join them.