Usurious Rates

With regard to S. J. Diamond’s Sept. 22 column on credit cards offered in California and the high interest rates charged, I say right on! I have been outraged for years with the usurious charges of 20% and 21% on bank cards, while the banks obtain their lending money at 6% or 7%.

But it isn’t easy to find an alternative bank card. I have been searching diligently since last March, making long-distance telephone calls and writing letters to Midwest and Eastern banks. I have finally obtained a bank card offering 12.9% annual interest and no yearly fees. However, this is only because it was offered through my husband’s union, Local 347 with the city of Los Angeles. It is called a Service Employees card and is issued by the Bank of New York (Delaware). While I have finally succeeded in overcoming usurious interest rates, I am sorry others in California will have to wait for more competition from out-of-state banks.

DOROTHY E. FIERING

Thousand Oaks