#300
Magic Eraser

Published:

Aug 17, 2019


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Published:

Aug 17, 2019


Author:


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Consumers are drowning in debt. American household debt hit a record $13.2 trillion in 2018 – more than $40k per person on average across 327m people. Many consumers wish the debt would simply disappear.

Though exceedingly rare, this is actually possible! Some of our friends to the North in Canada received an unexpected surprise earlier this month when their credit card debt was erased. Chase decided to exit the country, and forgave all debts owed from the users of its two remaining products (Amazon and Marriott rewards credit cards).

Customers were over the moon with the development. One customer noted that he “couldn’t believe it” after learning he had been freed from $6k in debt. "It's kind of like I'm being rewarded for my irresponsibility," said a university student now forgiven from a $1,300 bill.

Though Chase didn’t disclose the number of customers or how much debt was forgiven, the company calculated that collecting wouldn’t make financial sense. To collect the money, Chase would have to pay accountants, taxes, and collection agencies - costs that were determined to be larger than the remaining balances.

With over $2.7tn in assets and over $150b in credit card loans worldwide, the debt outstanding from these two products simply didn’t move the needle for Chase.

Though no one should ever bank on their debt being magically erased, we congratulate those whose debt went up in flames!

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Magic Eraser


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