Discounted-rate credit-card offers don't work! (Quotable).

• Author: Goebert, Bonnie
• Position: Brief Article

"The credit card people have gone overboard offering credit cards at 4.9 percent that at some mysterious time go up to 18.9 percent. It's always something point 9 percent, so they don't go up to the next digit. The consumer hates those mailings, not to mention the incessant phone solicitations. The only people who show any interest are the indigent, the credit-unworthy, and the ones who are playing the game of perpetually transferring debts from card to card. The credit card companies are not getting the financial slam dunks they thought they would with these offerings.

"Teach your consumers to value your brand and then toss in a...