I have been a loyal paying customer to Washington Mutual Mastercard for over two years. I have been late once - two days - and have always been very careful with this account due to the great interest rate of 9.99%. I received my statement today indicating that my interest rate has doubled to 21.04%. When I called to find out why, they told me it was due to "perceived risk" based on my FICO score. I found this confusing as my score is good and is about the same as it was when i applied for the card. They gave me two options: 1. close the account and get my 9.99% rate back or 2. keep the account open and take the DOUBLED rate. This, of course, left me no choice so I closed the account.

The question I have is how does a bank do this to customers who make payments on time each month, do not go over limit and have a good credit score?