by Caitlin Kenney

Sean from Illinois writes:

Here's a Planet Money indicator: zero. I got my Chase credit card bill this week and it had a $0 minimum payment, although I had had an abnormally expensive month. It didn't make much sense til I looked closer and found this on my bill:

"You have the flexibility to skip a payment. You must pay past due and overlimit balances immediately. However,the remaining minimum payment for this month has been reduced to $0. Finance charges will continue to accrue. To reduce your balance, feel free to make a payment."

Sounds like quite a nice ploy to dupe me into paying them interest!

Oh those friendly credit card companies.