Amazon.com Visa is bad news. Chase credit cards are bad news.

I made the mistake of signing up for an Amazon.com Visa when I was amking an order, as a way to save $30. Then they never sent me a bill, and the e-mails they sent me linked to a different account with a zero balance so I never knew what I owed. By the time I figured it out (after a lot of conversations with people from India named "Kevin"), they slapped a $29 late fee on it that they wouldn't take off. So I only saved a buck and got pretty aggravated in the process. so I closed the account after I paid the small balance off. Then the lady (American, this time) mentioned ominously that she'd notify the credit bureaus right away. Why, I asked, are you reporting this to make me look bad? No, she said, we just report it.

So here are my conclusions: Credit cards exist to screw you. They count on human error, being too busy to keep up 100% of the time, or just general human nature to guarantee them that you'll give them the opportunity to screw you royally. Chase is the worst. Shame on them. And shame on Amazon.com for setting me up. And shame on me for getting suckered.

Banks with their overdraft fees are almost as bad. Luckily, I managed to get a deal with Citibank 10 years ago that protects me. I have instant deposit up to $5000 so no waiting for my deposits to clear. And they'll turn any overdraft into a line of credit so instead of "domino overdrafts" at gatling-gun speed (you know, take your deposit, hold it for five days, pay the biggest check you wrote, bounce the 10 little ones, and mail you the $300 bad news three days later, and oh by the way here's another 40 bucks from TeleCheck for that one you wrote at the store), I get a bearable (though still usurious at 22.5%) little loan on the overdraft and can pay it back when I have time to sit down and take a look.

Yeah, I'm not a good cash flow manager anymore. I admit it. But you know what? No one is anymore. I'll bet the number of people who still balance their checkbooks every month is less than the number of people with dial-up Internet. Who can balance an account with five pre-authorized debits, a bunch of grocery store swipes, three online bill payment services, and four more pay at the merchant's site accounts (with maybe one paper check a month)?

Don't think the financial institutions haven't studied this. I'm just waiting for the day Citibank realizes I'm dodging their biggest profit center with this instant deposit credit and cut me off...