Credit card companies have once more found a way to target college students.
In 2009, President Obama signed the Credit Card act. According to Wikipedia, they are outlawed from "giving gifts or any promotional items (such as coupons
for free pizza) to entice debtors to take on debt by signing with their
credit cards" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_CARD_Act_of_2009).
What's a poor card-issuer to do? (After all, their CEOs only make several million a year.) They're weasels. They can slip through any little crack.
Apparently the loophole is that card-issuers are not forbidden to offer virtual loot. They're targeting college students with campaigns to get you to "like" them on Facebook, offering virtual currency in games like FarmVille, and other non-real-world entertainment and discounts.
No, a few bucks is not worth being on the hook to a credit card company for life. Try going to http://www.federalreserve.gov/creditcardcalculator/ -- plug in the amount you owe, and the interest rate you're paying. See how long, and how much in interest, you'll have to pay if you pay only the minimum.
No, you do not have a "good" interest rate. Read the fine print: the company can change the interest rate at any time, for any reason. Just because they feel like milking you for more money.
No, you should not carry a balance. Ever. For anything short of a life-threatening emergency.
Just for fun, I plugged in $1000 at a 25% interest rate... and found that I would never be finished paying off the balance, ever.
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