MasterCard Profit Jumps on Higher Fees

[Joanne98]

Source: AP


PURCHASE, N.Y. (AP) -- MasterCard said Thursday its fourth-quarter profit jumped 23 percent as the company raised its fees to offset fading credit card use in the U.S.

Yet MasterCard's performance paled in comparison with its rival, Visa, which reported a huge profit late Wednesday.

Shares of MasterCard tumbled 7 percent.

Both companies rely on fees they get from banks when consumers use their cards.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/02/04/business/AP-US-Earns-MasterCard.html?_r=1&ref=business

[SpiralHawk]

1. "Smirk." - Supreme-Court Empowered Corporate Citizens

"Usury is is like sooo good for us. Too bad about you noisy proles. Smirk"

- Supreme-Court Empowered Corporate Citizens

[apnu]

2. Hmmm... just like Visa.

And who gets the shaft? we plebs, that's who. I've lost count of the # of times I've gone into a store and been charged a fee to use my credit card because Visa/Amex/MC all raised their processing fees to retailers. Of course retailers won't absorb these fee increases, they pass them along to their customers, happily.

I'm so sick of credit card bullshit, I'm paying all mine down and I'm going to reduce their limits so something really small, to use in case of emergencies.

Fucking credit cards.

[Mari333]

3. honey I got rid of the one I had for good.

8 yrs ago. and I will never have another one again. it feels good NOT to have one. fuckers.

[gateley]

6. Agree -- it makes life so much simpler. No 'should I or shouldn't I get this?' -

If I don't have the money in my debit card account, no decision needs to be made. No remembering to have to pay the bill, no having to remember how close I am to the limit, no regret that "I shouldn't have gotten that". It's liberating.

[abelenkpe2]

4. So banks demand a bailout

with taxpayer dollars forcing cuts in essential social programs, then they turn around lay off thousands of employees and jack the rates on their customers. What a sweet deal.

Really people, big banks and credit card companies are ripping you off. Stop doing business with them.

[Steerpike]

5. Those Crazy Guys!

My VISA is at 29 %! I know I'm contributing to their huge profits. It's a good thing I'm a capitalist...or I might feel like a tool :sarcasm:

[badgerpup]

7. Just got a very rude wake-up call on this meself...

:rant: alert

HAD to go the credit route when I needed a new bed and recliner NOW.
Silly me...was very pleased that my credit score was good enough to allow Citifinancial (yes, I am naming names and pointing fingers) to smile upon me to the tune of $2000 (much less than I needed, intended to, and ended up spending).

Figured I'd done good because I'd gotten a 24 month same-as-cash (no interest) deal and budgeted to pay it off within 18 months- that'd leave me a 6-month "holy shit, life happens" safety net where I could get away with making smaller payments.
All hell will break loose if I don't have it paid off by then...27.99% interest on the ORIGINAL SUM, but I'm gonna be long gone dust over the horizon by then if it KILLS me.

OK...so I get this thing in the mail saying my payment due date is the 5th of the month. WTF? I get my SSDI check on the 3rd of the month, and that's when I pay my bills...no way can I get this there by the 5th. Call them (and they have got the most MADDENING computerized phone system...you CANNOT circumvent it by pressing '9' or '0' because it'll take you back to square one).:grr:
I'm ready to bite the heads off live chickens by the time I get a live person...and gods forgive me, but it's somebody who is very obviously ESL. I tell him that I know it's not his fault, and that he might want to pass it up the food chain that the operators might catch less hell if the computerized phone answering system was revamped. I'm pissed off already, but it's not his fault.
It's NOT fair to the customer service people to get customers angry, hostile, and spoiling for a fight before handing them off...
at least, that's my not-so-humble opinion.

Anyway...I ask the guy about pushing my due date back. Sure, we can do that for March...but not this month...and if I don't get the payment in before the 5th, there will be a $39 late fee assessed.
WHAT? :nuke:
OK, OK...calm down, I can deal with this. Don't like the idea, but I can make a minimum ($10) with my VISA, wait a few days, and then send in the payment I WAS going to use to apply to March.
Can't do that...only debit card or checking account is acceptable. Alright, that's acceptable...I don't like the idea of using the MasterCard to pay the VISA (so to speak) anyway.
Problem dealt with, right? Except that the kicker is that THERE IS A FIFTEEN DOLLAR FEE TO MAKE A PAYMENT THIS WAY.
:wtf:
WHAT...THE...FUCK....I am supposed to pay THEM for the privelege of being allowed to save them some money?
Citifinancial (still with the names and fingers here) saves $$$ by doing it this way; I went through this with AOL many years ago when I was still with them. I kicked up enough of a fuss that they finally not only allowed me to pay by check, they gave me a special rate.

I would have protested this more had I gotten a person whose language skills were better; as it was, I was so angry by then (what with the computerized baffle and the policy) I didn't trust myself to remain courteous.

Looks like my choice is whether I get screwed for $39 or $15. Gee, when you put it THAT way...:banghead:
I'm going to get this thing paid off as fast as I can...and I intend to be very VOCAL with the
CAVEAT EMPTOR!! THESE GUYS'LL SCREW YOU OVER SIX WAYS FROM SUNDAY! :mad::grr::nuke::banghead:

Thanks...:blush: I feel better now.

[ezmerelda39]

8. credit cards and computerized phone calls

Using a credit card (I do not own one and haven't for years) is the same as going to the bank and borrowing a few bucks for 30% interest. No one would think of doing that even in an emergency, except for a medical emergency (that is another ball of wax.) The computerized phone answering machines are the worst as they completely destroy any human contact. In Michigan with so many unemployed the Unemployment Agency has One, just ONE phone number to call and it takes days and weeks to get through and then you get a computer, push the option and then you are put on hold for hours. With so many unemployed it seems like they could hire a few people, add a few more phone numbers and deal with the problem in a humane way with real people dealing with real problems of real people. Being unemployed is an emotional ordeal without having to do business with computers. It is dehumanizing!

[Hubert Flottz]

9. MasterCard = The bankers are the "Master" the card holder is

the slave.