In times of economic hardship it happens many times that people loose their income and are not able to pay their regular credit card payments. Luckily, bankruptcy is not the only way to get rid of all this.
Many lenders offer credit card hardship programs for individuals and families that suffer from any financial stress. These lenders includes Discover, American Express, Bank of America, Chase, Capital One, Citi, HSBC, and GE Money.
What is a Credit Card Hardship Program?
Basically a credit card hardship program is a debt settlement agreement between you and your credit card issuer.
Owing to this agreement they may lower your APR, reduce your monthly payments to a level that is affordable for you, and they may also delay your payments for a fixed period of time (typically, 6-12 months).
Be Aware of the Myths and Facts of credit card hardship programs
However, there is nothing in this life that is all perfect. There are several potential downsides that are associated with the credit card hardship programs. So before that you rush to call your bank representative and ask them for new terms, make sure that you are aware of the difference between common myths and their facts.
Myths and Facts about credit card hardship programs
Myth # 1: Any cardholder having a large debt is eligible for a hardship program.
Hardship programs are designed particularly for hardship situations, like temporary loss of job, medical problems, divorce, death of a spouse, a death in the family that caused unexpected significant expenses, etc.