Payment Protection Plans

We have not talked a lot about payment protection plans, those great deals where the bank agrees to pay your credit card balance in the event of disability or death in exchange for premiums. They are great for the banks. In an article in the American Banker, Victoria Finkle reports that the banks only return to the consumer 21 cents of every dollar paid in premiums and earn profit margins of 50% or more on the plans. Finkle reports that the FDIC and CFPB are looking into the plans, with a regulatory probe of Discover Financial Services already underway. The article is worth a read, especially for the surprisingly candid assessments of industry insiders.

These plans are another example of "gotcha capitalism"--a business model dependent on sustained miscalculations or mistakes by the other party to the transaction. For everyone but the consumer at death's door, the premiums are way too high to justify the expense.