I’m a pay-in-full every month guy too. If any of my cards start pulling this stuff I won’t use them. It’s that simple. And what most people don’t understand is: that is EXACTLY what the credit card companies want.

Pay-in-full customers are known in the CC industry as “deadbeats”. “What’s that?!?” you ask. Yeah, I saw a documentary on these guys a few years back. The ones who carry heavy balances, pay late, etc. are the most profitable customers that CC companies have. Unless the user completely defaults on the debt, the true “deadbeat” is the one who pays in full every month because the CC company only makes money on the merchant fee. That’s why they refer to pay-in-full people as “deadbeats”.

This move is risky on the part of the industry though. It’s classic game theory. If they all go to a “no grace period model + annual fee model”, then they all make out. But if just one of them pulls back and keeps the grace periods and no fees, then the savvy users like me will gravitate to those other cards.