Autopay Is Making Us Worse at Managing Credit-Card Bills

Re:Autopay Is Making Us Worse at Managing Credit-Card Bills by jimt1234 on Monday October 09, 2023 @01:45PM (#37823098)

I once worked with a company developing a payday loan app. We interviewed hundreds of people with money problems. It was amazing how many people thought the minimum payment was the payment. I tried to explain to a handful of folks that it was possible to pay more than the minimum payment and that would help lower the balance. Lots of blank stares, then "But it says the payment is $50; why would I pay them more than I owe?"

All the people I talked to seemed like good people, but the lack of basic financial knowledge was shocking to me. Not as shocking as the payday loan industry, though. But that's a different topic. (If you're in the payday loan industry, quit now. Start dealing meth, you'll be doing the world a favor.)

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Re:Autopay Is Making Us Worse at Managing Credit-Card Bills by orev on Monday October 09, 2023 @06:05PM (#37826059)

I’m surprised that you’re surprised about this. Credit card bills are the original dark pattern. Every other bill you receive has a single number in a box that says “pay this amount”, and when you pay that amount, you’re done. But with credit card bills, the number in the “pay this” box doesn’t mean you’re done, it means that you’re going to keep paying forever. It took a literal act of Congress (CARD Act - 2009) to force them to add the disclosure to the bill that making the minimum payment would increase the time and interest you’d be paying.

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