Chase Cardmember Services Chase doubled min.pymt. per month. Added $10 serv. chg. I always paid on time! Elgin, Illinois

You say, "How can they arbitrarily and unilaterally break their agreement with me?"

If you've read your card agreement, I'm sure you'll find language that says that they can change the terms of the agreement as long as they give you notice. Just about all credit cards have this language in their contract, which is why it's a very bad idea to borrow money using a credit card. The one sided card agreements give the banks the freedom to change the terms on a whim, while they give you no leverage at all. Chase sent out the amendment to their card agreements last month, which I bet 99% of customers didn't bother to read (I did).

Back in the credit free-for-all days, banks lowered the minimum payment due from 5% to 2%, so their customers would feel free to carry a larger balance from month to month (i.e. accruing more interest). Now that credit is tight, they're going back to the old 5% standard. Chase is doing this only on low interest balances (below 4%). The service fee is tacked on to persuade you to transfer to a higher rate. If you go to their 7.99% rate, the drop the service fee and keep the minimum payment at 2%.

This is an excellent example of how banks take advantage of these lopsided credit card agreements. They're manipulating the terms to make it unattactive for you to keep your balance at the lower interest rate. If you think this is something unique to Chase, think again. These tricks are standard practice in the credit card industry.