Group says credit card companies use "questionable" practices to lure in customers

An Iowa watchdog group says purveyors of plastic are using unfair practices to sign you up. Amber Hard, director of the Iowa Public Interest Research Group — or Iowa “PIRG”, says credit card companies aren’t playing fair.Hard say credit card companies are changing their terms and raising their rates to “gouge” customers. Hard says companies are lowering their minimum payments to keep customers in debt. Hard says credit card companies use techniques that trick customers into signing up for bad deals. The companies include a lot of fine print in their offers. She says they also offer a low “teaser” rate, and then later change that to a higher rate without the customer’s knowledge. Hard is urging customers to shop around before excepting a credit card offer, and to always read the fine print. She says you can get more information on avoiding credit card trouble at PIRG’s “truthaboutcredit.org” website.