Mad About a Credit Card APR Increase? Where to Send Complaints

Dramatic credit card rate increases have expanded beyond just Bank of America customers. In the past few days, we've received APR complaints from Washington Mutual, Barclay's, 5/3rds and Chase credit card customers.  Going from 9% to 27% APR isn't unheard of right now.

If you've received a letter stating that your APR is jumping 10 or 20%, I'd imagine you're fairly upset. We've shown you how you can reject the rate increase and warned you about the credit score damage that could come from closing the account.  Instead of closure, your best move is to pay off the balance or transfer it to a different account.

Your next step might be to voice your unhappiness about the rate increase to the proper authorities. We've compiled a short list of agencies that can take your credit card complaints online:

Federal Trade Commission
Federal Deposit Insurance Commission
Federal Reserve
Senate Banking Committee
House Financial Services Committee
Your State Attorney General

Sharing your complaint won't likely get your credit card rate reduced, but it could help push for larger reforms.

Emily Davidson – A former TransUnion insider and a member of Credit.com's expert team. Emily writes about credit reports, credit cards, loans and personal finance as the CreditBloggers.com moderator.