Editing MBNA (section)

== Controversies ==

MBNA hired [[Hunter Biden]] (then 26 years old and a recent law school graduate) during the years when his father, then-Senator [[Joe Biden]], was pushing for bankruptcy reform legislation supported by the company, which became law and makes it more difficult to acquire bankruptcy protection.<ref name="MBNA paid">{{cite news|url=http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BIDEN_MBNA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-08-25-18-54-05|title=MBNA paid Biden son at critical time for bill|last=Yost|first=Pete|agency=Associated Press|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080914010819/http://hosted.ap.org:80/dynamic/stories/B/BIDEN_MBNA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-08-25-18-54-05|date=August 25, 2008|archivedate=September 14, 2008|accessdate=April 24, 2024|url-status=dead}}</ref> Because of the close relationship between Biden and MBNA, [[Byron York]] called Biden the "Senator from MBNA" in a 1998 article for conservative magazine ''[[The American Spectator]]''.<reF>{{cite web|last=York|first=Byron|title=The Senator from MBNA|url=http://spectator.org/archives/98-01_york.html|work=The American Spectator|date=January 1998|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20010211131246/http://www.spectator.org/archives/98-01_york.html|archivedate=February 11, 2001|accessdate=April 24, 2024|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/01/26/hunter-biden-first-nepotism-job-00137308|title=Hunter Biden Snagged a Cushy Bank Job After Law School. He’s Been Trading on His Name Ever Since.|last=Craven|first=Jasper|work=Politico|date=January 26, 2024|accessdate=April 24, 2024}}</ref><reF>{{cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/10/1/20891510/hunter-biden-burisma-ukraine-shokin|title=Hunter Biden, the black sheep who got Trump impeached, explained|work=Vox|last=Yglesias|first=Matthew|date=October 1, 2019|accessdate=April 24, 2024}}</ref>

MBNA was one of the companies mentioned on a 2004 [[Frontline (US TV series)|''Frontline'']] [[WGBH-TV|WGBH Boston]] [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] special about unfair business practices by credit card companies.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/ "Frontline: Secret History of the Credit Card"], PBS.</ref> Some practices that ''Frontline'' claimed MBNA has engaged in included doubling or tripling of interest rates, shifting billing due dates/payment cycles monthly and raising rates for customers whose payments were a day or two late.  MBNA has been found to be one of the leading implementors of rate-jacking. For further information and links, see ''[[credit card]]''.

In Ireland, MBNA was accused of calling consumers up to eight times a day who were behind in making payments, which prompted the state debt advisory service to publicly state that harassment is outlawed. Affected people were advised to complain to the relevant authorities.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/surviving-the-recession/credit-card-debtors-harassed-1920987.html | work=Irish Independent | title=Credit card debtors 'harassed' | date=October 22, 2009}}</ref> The company in December 2009 admitted overcharging 500,000 Irish consumers up to €18 million.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2009/1215/1224260712119.html | newspaper=The Irish Times | title=MBNA to refund €18m as interest error comes to light | date=December 12, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/mbna-to-pay-back-836418m-to-500000-in-card-blunder-1975079.html | work=Irish Independent | title=MBNA to pay back €18m to 500,000 in card blunder | date=December 15, 2009}}</ref>

In the UK, circa September 2010, MBNA came under fire for its interpretation of new UK legislation, under which credit card providers must allocate payments to the debt with the highest interest rate first: one consumer site called MBNA's interpretation of these rules a "disingenuous money-making tactic".<ref>{{cite news |title=MBNA's new 'fairer' policy masks hidden costs |url=https://www.choose.co.uk/news/mbna-payment-allocation-masks-hidden-costs.html |newspaper=[[Choose (website)|Choose]] |date=October 27, 2010}}</ref>