We ran a story on WITN News at Sunrise that took a lot of us in the newsroom by surprise. The name of the story was "Thrift Shop Blues." According to the report, a government investigation found what a person buys and where they buy it can negatively impact your credit score. It can impact the rate your credit card company gives you.
The report said credit card companies watch where you shop. When you use your card to buy something in a thrift store or consignment shop, your credit card company knows it and notes it. The company uses that information to assume, the report says, that you're tight on money because you're shopping at a low-cost store.
Congress recently passed a law that they say will stop credit card companies from such practices. President Barack Obama signed the legislation.
What's wild is that the credit card companies that employed this tactic were punishing people who may have been the smartest shoppers of us all. Perhaps people shopped at thrift stores to avoid going into debt, not because they were already in it. You can't tell a shopper's finances just based on where they swipe their credit card.
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