There are some important things that the credit card companies don't advertise—and these are the very things that all of us should be warned about. These are the secrets that they'd rather keep hidden. These are some of the reasons that thousands of people complain to the Better Business Bureau about credit cards and credit card offers every year. According to statistics obtained from the Better Business Bureau website, the banking and credit card industries are among the highest ranked in consumer complaints. Here are some examples of the unadvertised, anti-consumer features of many credit cards:

• Universal Default – Universal default is one of the worst things that you can see on a credit card terms and conditions statement. What "universal default" means is that your credit card company has the right to change your rate and/or penalize you (by taking away your intro rate and replacing it with the ultra-high "default" rate, for example) if you fail to pay a bill to another creditor—including your mortgage!! Basically, this means that if you fail to make a payment on ANYTHING (not just the account with this particular company), or your credit score drops, or your balance on another card gets too high, or your credit situation changes in ANY way, your credit card company can penalize you! How is THAT for a cardholder benefit?? When a credit card company has a universal default rule (or anything similar) in their terms and conditions, I don't see how ANYONE could say with a straight face that they have YOUR best interest in mind. Like so many other things in this game—it is good for them, and bad for you. As far as rules go, it is as "one-sided" and "anti-consumer" as they come. (Be VERY CAREFUL when you sign up for a credit card that has a Universal Default or similar statement if you can at all help it—unless you can pay off the balance in FULL each and every month.)
• Cardmember Agreement – Here's a quote from the "IMPORTANT INFORMATION" section of a recent credit card offer I received (note the bold text):
  
  "CARDMEMBER AGREEMENT: You agree to be bound by the Cardmember Agreement, which will be sent with the Card."
  
  The Cardmember Agreement is your contract with the credit card company. By responding to this offer you are agreeing to be bound by the Cardmember Agreement without even seeing it! If you get an offer like this, call the credit card company and ask to see the Cardmember Agreement. It might have things like "Universal Default" on it!
  
• No Grace Period – Many cards do not have grace periods for re-payment. This means that you start paying interest on the balance the day you make the purchase. You'll get charged interest even if you pay off the balance in full each month.
• High Fees – We already mentioned fees in the previous section, but it's worth mentioning again here. Over-the-limit and late fees, as well as default interest rates are a major source of income for credit card companies.
• Minimum Finance Charge – This is the credit card company's way of saying: "We're going to get at least THIS MUCH out of you!"
• Same Value, Double The Price – Here's one that you won't see advertised on billboards: Because your credit card company can change the terms of the contract whenever they want (they usually have to give you 15 days notice), they can literally double or even triple the interest on a purchase that you made YESTERDAY! You get the same loan for double the price! This means that you could buy a computer for $800 on your credit card at 8.9% interest ("fixed"), expecting to pay a flat monthly payment of around $70 to get it paid off in 12 months, and paying a total of around $839. Your credit card company could then change your interest rate to 28% and your $839 computer just turned into a $926 computer! This isn't make-believe. These things actually happen to people. Universal default, mentioned above, is one way in which many people get caught in these "double the price" situations.
• Many Small Accounts Versus One With A Larger Limit – Certain credit card companies try to maximize their profits by giving you multiple cards with lower limits. This way you are more likely to bump up against your credit limit and acquire over the limit fees, and if you have three cards with one company, it literally triples the fees they may be able to collect from you in the event that you begin to have financial trouble and struggle with making the payments.