Who are they?

Columbus Bank and Trust was established on January 1^st 1888. Headquartered out of Columbus, GA, the bank reports over six billion and has 22 offices, most of which are clustered in or around the city of Columbus. In the 1980’s, it acquired 3 other Georgia based banks, First United Bank, Bank of Manchester and Buena Vista Loan and Savings Bank.

Stephen Melton, University of Georgia law school graduate, is the banks President and CEO. He has held this post since 1998. His predecessor, Sam Wellborn moved on to head a new division at the bank’s holding company, Synovus Financial Corporation.

Just like with other banking and financial institutions, Columbus Bank and Trust has seen its share of financial tumultuousness lately. Shares of the bank are paired with the 30 or so other holdings of Synovus and is traded as one under SNV. For the past year, with prices hovering about the $10 mark, SNV shares have been trading at a 10 year low.

In the news

Earlier this year Columbus Bank and Trust got in to a little trouble with the feds. The bank settled a FDIC initiated lawsuit regarding deception marketing of its bad credit credit cards. According to the suit, the bank did not properly disclose fees. The feds basically alleged that the bank bled its consumers dry by charging outrageous fees.

The cards were issued in the subprime market, where consumers have bad credit or no credit. In this market, consumers are so anxious to obtain or rebuild credit that they sometimes get themselves into raw deals. The feds and many consumer advocacy groups feel that Columbus Bank and Trust, and other institutions that cater to this subprime market, took advantage of their clients.

The Columbus Bank and Trust’s bad credit credit cards were marketed by a third party, CompuCredit. As a part of the settlement, the bank agreed to pay $2.4 million and to maintain $7.5 million in a restitution account for credit card account holders. Restitutions may be made available to account holders depending on the outcome of the FDIC’s suit against CompuCredit.

Many consumers complained about all of the fees that resulted in a dramatic reduction in their initial available balance. Many times, more than half of the $300 credit limit was tapped before the consumer ever got the card. So Columbus Bank and Trust also agreed to clearly disclose all account fees and initial available balance to card holders.

The card

Ok… I read here that the Columbus Bank and Trust issued Aspen credit card has been discontinued. But here I see that the Aspen Credit Card does exist, but that it is issued by First Bank & Trust. I could not find any links between the two banks, so this one has got me kind of confused.

So I figured I’d go the people, hopefully Aspen card holders, to get some clarification. And I found that some claim there is a Columbus Bank and Trust issued Aspen Card while others claim there is a First Bank and Trust issued Aspen Card. So I don’t know what to think.

My take

Well… since I can’t find a reliable source of information about the Aspen Credit Card… I’ll give my general opinion about these so called “bad credit credit cards”

The cards are used to help rebuild poor credit. However, there are usually a lot of fees associated with having one. In most instances the fees are excessive when compared to the perceived benefit. If you need to rebuild your credit, there are other credit cards options you can choose… which you can read about here.