Mexico rebels at credit card rates, mulls limits!

[Bravo Zulu]

Millions of first-time credit card holders remade Mexico in recent years, buying everything from diapers to DVD players on credit and spurring a boom in consumer spending and bank profits.

Many now regret it: With interest rates, commissions and fees topping 100 percent a year, delinquencies have soared as the global economic crisis boosts unemployment and leads banks to raise rates even more.

"There's no way out," said Manuel Correa, a Mexico City messenger who saw his minimum monthly payments quadruple to 1,500 pesos, or $105, when he missed a few after losing his previous job. That amount is a third of his income.

"I'd have to choose between eating, paying the rent or paying the bank," he said. He chose to eat.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_MEXICO_CREDIT_REBELLION?SITE=PAPIT&SECTION=BUSINESS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[Mojorabbit]

1. That is some

interest rate!