At least one credit card company is still willing to bait the Federal tiger by continuing to charge outrageous interest rates in the face of increasing government regulation of the credit card industry.

First PREMIER Bankcard of Sioux Falls, SD is now offering some of their customers credit cards at interest rates as high as 79.9% APR.  Unless the digits on the card are actually the winning six numbers in the next Mega Millions lottery drawing, this is flat-out unjustifiable. However, charging 80% it is 100% legal.

News about this very special piece of plastic went national when a TV reporter from San Diego was told by a viewer that they received a pre-approved credit card offer from FPB with a  79.9% APR. The viewer, Gordon Hageman, said he couldn’t believe what he saw and said, “My first thought, it was a mistake.”  Gordon, it is a mistake. A mistake on the part of the bank who will no doubt face scrutiny from the public and media as this story spreads.

Loan sharks nationwide are struggling to raise their rates to match First PREMIER. In an exclusive interview with the Debtbeat staff, street lender and extortion expert Vinny “The Crowbar” Malone of Detroit, MI is quoted as saying “I would like charge that much, but then I start to feel bad about it. I mean, I’m not an animal.”

Apparently the same can’t be said for the execs at First PREMIER.

No doubt they’d argue that they are giving credit to those who could not find it elsewhere, and charging rates commensurate with their risk. That’s probably false on both counts. Of all the card issuers in the country, FPB has gone out of their way to stand out from the competition in rate-gouging. And when the government is holding rates at near-zero for banks, almost every customer would have to default for the bank to lose money at these rates.

Sending out offers like these are intended to lure clients who don’t understand credit, and at these rates even if they cut the cord after a few months they’ll still have stayed on the hook long enough to make outsize profits for First PREMIER. I don’t agree with having the government limit interest rates on cards, but this is as strong an argument as they come.

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