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Target National Bank
Hi All!
So, I got a notice from Target National Bank, issuer of the Target Visa and store card obviously. They informed me that they are raising their APR to 22.99% April 3. I can opt out of this by sending a letter stating that I do not wish to have the increased APR and to close my account. Now, I certainly do not want a 22.99% APR since I'm already paying 21.99% with the card. DH and I have an action plan as far as paying off debt and closing our cc accounts and Target is not on our priority list at this time and we weren't going to close the account yet.
I hate to say this but I don't care if closing the account will affect my credit report. Target is using the excuse of the bad economic status to increase their rates. I do want opinions though. I think I'm pretty much set on the decision to close the account but would like everyone's opinion on if they would accept the new rate or close the account and risk a bad credit comment.
Thanks.
Michelle
jaime (03-13-2009), jkpjohnson (03-14-2009), JoAnn (03-12-2009), Margaret K (03-13-2009), mdowdy (03-12-2009), Niddi (03-13-2009), rtebalt (03-13-2009), tsgal (03-12-2009), wilbe95 (03-12-2009)
Re: Target National Bank
If it was me, I would send the letter and close the account. I know it is only 1% but that adds up over time and depending on the balance. You can get a much better rate on a different card.
Just my thoughts though.
Kim in SD
The greatest glory never comes from falling, but from rising each time you fall.~Clay Aiken
Re: Target National Bank
I just opened a target account - my first bill is this month actually, and I didn't hear about the increase. We were planning on closing the account anyway but DEFINATLY now. Thanks for the info.
Dena
Re: Target National Bank
I would agree with Kim on this one. Like you said, they are useing the bad economic times to raise the rates. Which I'm sure that's why they are doing it. But I would wonder how many times they have raised the rate in the past year on other customers. I stopped useing credit cards awhile back, the rates just keep climbing, and I was tired of paying more. So we just closed all accounts, and now we see it this way, if we can't pay cash for it we don't need it..........cc can be a real rip off, but on the other hand they can be handy too. Depends on the person, if they are willing to pay a higher rate or not.
Tonia
Wisdom is doing now what you will be happy with later on.
Re: Target National Bank
Tonia, I never have paid attention to all of those account changes notices until recently. It's quite possible that Target has raised the rate before since I've gotten the card several years back.
Dena, I used to love having the Target card. About 14 yrs ago, I started with a regular Target store card. Good rates, good customer service, good store. Maybe about 4-5 years ago, they upgraded the card to the Target Visa and that's when I started having problems with Target, the store and the bank. The card agreement kept changing, they would lower my available credit, then increase, then lower it once again. And NOTHING changed in our financial status to warrant this. I'm not too fond of the store anymore because the prices seem extremely higher and I'm not too fond of what they carry anymore in the way of home furnishings and clothing. I mainly go there for the $1 bins, cat litter (wish Wal-Mart would start carrying the big boxes of our cat litter), and the SuperTarget in Ft. Collins carries some grocery products that I like that I can't get in Cheyenne. I sometimes hit the good sales but those seem few and far in between. I would use my Target Visa more at other stores than I would actually use it in Target!
Re: Target National Bank
Are there any benefits to having this Target Visa card, like a special discount or promotion to cardholders??? If it benefits you to have the card and pay it off monthly with no interest charges, maybe you could use it that way and just pay the balance each month. If not, why keep it?? if you need to charge and pay monthly you can probably beat that interest rate.
I have a few store credit cards I keep just to get the cardholder discounts mailed to me every other month or so and be on their mailing list but pay them off as soon as I charge something and get the bill.
I hate paying interest!!!!
Niddi
Re: Target National Bank
Actually, what they are doing is raising their rates in an effort to "encourage" you to close your account. This has been happening with many CC companies. You mentioned you have other CCs, so you may get several more letters like this one. Each company is using a different method to encourage holders to close out & pay off accounts. Some companies are offering to pay card holders as much as $500 if they will close & pay off their accounts by a certain date. And then some companies are being really mean & charging "penalites" on people who have large balances for large periods of time. Anyway, if I were you, I'd call the company & ask if they will give you an incentive to pay off the account immediately - like knock 10 or 15% off your bill. You never know! They may do it!Originally Posted by mmclean11
Re: Target National Bank
I would close it. Rates have gotten so bad that we don't have any cards anymore. When rates hit 20.99 on our cards, we closed them. Didn't hurt our credit to do so. I agree with calling them and see if they have an incentive for you to do it.
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