Black Friday: Before you use that credit card...

[Consumer Reports]   Dear Friend, With Black Friday shopping already in full swing, no doubt you’re going to reach for those credit cards. And with interest rates averaging a whopping 21 percent on purchases, you shouldn’t be slammed with even more fees that could drive you deeper into debt. That’s why Consumer Reports is fighting to cap credit card late fees at $8, instead of the $41 late fee that some companies charge. Don’t think that matters? Consumers like you paid $14.5 BILLION in late fees last year – real money that comes out of your pocket. Already, 30,000 people have signed our petition to cap late fees. [Can you help us get to the 50,000 mark?]( delivering signatures right after the Thanksgiving shopping weekend – let’s show the credit card companies we mean business!  [Sign the Petition »](  Late fees are simply a way for credit card companies to pad their bottom lines, especially in an era of outrageous interest rates. As anyone who’s made a late payment knows, the late fee gets added to your credit card balance – where it’s subjected to interest rate charges, adding to the cycle of debt. And those interest rates today are sky high: not only have banks hiked rates on credit cards by a third over last year, retailer-issued cards (think Macy’s, Target, etc.) are at a record high, averaging 30 percent. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants to cap late fees at 8 bucks, saying that is more than enough to cover the companies’ costs. But the big banks are trying to kill the effort, saying if they can’t make that much off late fees, they’ll just have to charge consumers new fees to cover the lost revenue. Huh? [Sign our petition to the CFPB supporting the late fee cap.]( We’ll be delivering your signatures next week!  [Sign the Petition »]( You can also help out by sharing this email with friends and family so they can add their names, too! Thank you, and have a Happy Thanksgiving! Marcus JonesConsumer Reports [Unsubscribe from Consumer Reports action alerts.]( © 2022 Consumer Reports, 101 Truman Avenue, Yonkers, NY, 10703 [Contact Consumer Reports](