Skipping A Car Payment Could Help

Two unusual deals just landed in the Bankaholic mailbox — one intriguing, one not.

Harris Bank wants to let us “Enjoy More Summer Fun” by skipping a car payment.

That sounds like a pretty terrible reason to stop repaying any kind of loan. Why a reputable bank would encourage frivolous spending in the middle of a terrible recession is beyond us.

Skipping is not the same as forgiving a payment, either. Harris adds the payment, and some extra interest, to the end of the loan. There’s also a $50 “processing fee” that must be paid right away.

But if we were out of work, had our pay cut, or been hit with a big unexpected expense, delaying a car payment might make sense.

Indeed, if we were struggling to keep the bills paid and get through the economic downturn like many families, the timing of this offer might be pretty darn good.

The deal we didn’t like came from Wells Fargo.

It asked us to “authorize delivery of your Free Credit Report.” All we had to do was attach a gold sticker that said “Send me my credit report” on a form and mail in back.

Of course that would also sign us up for Identity Theft Protection, with $12.99 a month — or nearly $160 a year — being added to our mortgage payments.

Most of us get very little benefit from a service like this and free copies of all credit reports can be obtained at annualcreditreport.com.

But identity theft protection is almost always profitable for the banks.