Microeconomics

Once in awhile people will ask me my views on the differences in the U.S. and Dutch economies. When they ask, I will tell them about today.

I have two credit cards - one American card tied to my U.S. bank account for U.S. purchases like presents for my family and big purchases. I also like it's reward points program. Due to the Patriot Act, it has to be tied to both an American bank account and address so I use my parents' home address. The other card is my Dutch credit card.

As coincidence would have it, my American card expires this month and I have yet to receive a new one so I called them today to follow-up. While on-hold, they inform you of the latest statistics on your card - outstanding current balance, due date, credit limit, etc. I had heard of how U.S. credit card companies were upping their technology, for better or worse, to improve both customer service and target their marketing so I was not surprised, but impressed. I was prompted to provide my security code which I, of course, had no memory of so I was forwarded to an agent that proceeded to ask me the zip codes of my previous addresses along with the addresses. I couldn't tell you my mobile phone number off the top of my head so there is no way I am able to remember my address from three or six years ago. The agent, not satisfied, goes into the second phase of questioning - the intricate details of the cars registered to my address. I explained that I don't have a car so I was asked to give not only the make of both of my parents' cars, but also the model and the year. When I got the year of my Dad's truck incorrect, she moved into information she called 'public record' meaning, "Lady, any idiot should know this about themselves and, by the way, you are so dumb you would lose your head if it wasn't screwed on tight." I finally got enough questions about my birthday and immediate kin right to get my password reset and, thus, enable a new card to get sent my way. All of this interrogation for them to send out a card they either forgot to send to me or was somehow lost so I can potentially spend enough money to pay them interest on. Oh, and additionally, my limit was sky high - in the tens of thousands range. What happened to the credit crisis? Needless to say, I was sufficiently creeped out and impressed by the amount of information at the fingertips of a customer service agent across the ocean.

Next, I called my Dutch credit card company - also the company I work for and the bank in which I keep my savings - to get a temporary limit increase on my credit card for our upcoming Australia vacation. Their security code is my mother's birthday, including year, and I always mess that up so I get sent to the second line questioning again and, this time, they are much more reasonable questions like my bank account number and address. My credit limit is 1,000 euros and is on an automatic monthly direct debit, a limit reserved for miscreants and toddlers in the U.S. I ask to get my credit limit raised for two months to 4,000 euros and not only do I have to provide my monthly net income (although they could see my savings balance in my bank account), but a reason as to why I want the increase. I refrained from the impulses to gush that I had just seen a Louis Vuitton bag that I just had to have or to tell her "none of your damn business" and explained that we were going on a one month vacation to Australia. She asked me a few more somewhat intrusive questions to fill in a credit increase form on my behalf and informed that the request would have to go to another department for approval and I would be informed my mail if my increase was granted. If not, an alternative limit would be suggested for which I will probably have to call again and repeat the entire process. Lovely.

In the U.S., at least while I was living there, I could increase my credit limit on-line or by phone, I think. And, with this particular credit card, I think my credit limit was increased without my knowledge seemingly in an attempt to find a limit I could not possibly pay off in a month and, thus, have to pay interest. I think they had the "if you give, they will spend" motto in the past. The Dutch system is dramatically different. The credit card companies seem to live by the "we know better than you how much you can afford to spend and we'll just make it a little lower just in case you are really stupid" motto. While I applaud the Dutch's more socially moral approach, it also seems to be missing a revenue opportunity. I don't promote the hunt the weak mentality prevalent in the U.S. in the past decade, but I get that companies that take the risk and provide a line of credit to consumers do so to make a profit.

It is also just another example of how the Dutch can, in one institution, be both incredibly technologically advanced and also archaic. The bank, for instance, does not provide customers with checkbooks and charges stupidly high fees to deposit checks into customer accounts choosing, instead, to pretend all is possible domestically and internationally via bank transfer. But, for a credit limit increase, they choose to go the less environmentally friendly and more costly route of informing you of a credit increase approval or rejection via snail mail when seemingly everyone has at least one e-mail account. Not to mention all of the freakishly impressive data mining they are missing out on. Weird.

In terms of credit, amongst other things, the U.S. and The Netherlands seem to me to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. There must be some happy medium.