Credit Card Debt Management

Credit cards could be the new tobacco, according to MediaPost’s Marketing Daily. Not in the sense that we’re addicted to them, per se – more in the sense that we’re becoming ever more afraid of them. Looking 10 or 15 years down the road, it is possible that credit cards, once a socially accepted symbol of affluence and convenience, will be just another black mark in the pages of American history books.

For instance, certain cards in certain colors signify that you have a “really” good credit score or a “really” high income, just as Virginia Slims once signified that you were a “really” fashion-conscious smoker. Now, cigarettes are generally banned from most restaurants and public perception has tanked to the point where they are most associated with bad breath and a hacking cough. Could it be that credit cards too will someday be banned from restaurants (doubtful) and they will be most associated with “Sucker”? It is indeed possible, according to the Marketing Daily article, citing a vast study by more than 60 reputable organizations:

“And the anxiety consumers feel about debt is intense: More than one-third (36%) of Americans say they have felt at some point that their financial situation was out of control. People ages 30-49 are more likely than others to have felt this way (45%). Parents with kids under age 18 are also vulnerable (41%), as are African-Americans (46%).”

Will consumers get mad and cry foul at the big credit card companies like they have with big oil companies? Probably not, the article says. There is a familiarity and comfort with these brands and they are still strongly associated with convenience, by and large. And it is dangerous to paint the entire industry with a broad brush when some consumers (i.e. the responsible spenders) are not “over a barrel” with their credit cards, so to speak. However, I am of the mindset that consumers do have room for a little indignance at misleading and vague marketing, interest rates that skyrocket at the drop of a hat, and spending limits that fluctuate with whichever way the breeze blows. These practices fly under the radar with many folks because they haven’t been told or are too preoccupied to investigate how it might affect them.

Will the credit card industry be the new tobacco? No, probably not, and I doubt we’ll see Visa-sponsored Get Out Of Debt commercials anytime soon. But even if the industry can protect its public image, it should be subject to at least some regulation.