Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Double or Nothing Paydown Plan

Your credit card let you gamble the balance on the flip of a coin - Double the balance or nothing owed.
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What do you do when OWE them a LOT ? Bankruptcy ? Move to parts unknown ?

Most people would likely not exercise the option unless they were in deep trouble. ( Just lost the job, or extended hospital stay, or something )

Could be formal with lawyers in suits and a notary public not in either party's pay to toss the coin.

The credit card company winds up the same balance owed by half the number of card holders. Cuts their skip tracing load down a bit.

And they will have some very grateful cardholders that have "learned their lesson".

popbottle, Nov 23 2015

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       Is there a limit on the number of times you can play?
pocmloc, Nov 23 2015
  

       So half get their debt forgiven. The other half are now way underwater so they declare bankruptcy. [-]
scad mientist, Nov 23 2015
  

       Too easy/fun to hack:   

       If you lose, just transfer the larger doubled balance to a different account. Flip the coin again. If you lose, transfer & flip....transfer & filp...transfer & flip...   

       .... until you get to zero.
sophocles, Nov 23 2015
  

       Can we have a similar scheme on the ’bakery, where ideas with a net [-] vote can try to gamble the bones away?
pocmloc, Nov 23 2015
  

       The card company s would put on restrictions of course.   

       Once per six months or only after a year of on time payments or no or small balance transfers or Whatever.   

       Certainly not on every card they offer and maybe only if you can prove a financial disaster if pending.   

       You heard the story about the guy so afraid of inflation that he took his life savings (name any figure your like) and bet it all on red at the roulette wheel of a casino. And won. I think it just a story. The casinos would not have taken such a big bet. And The credit card company's take very few silly bets that they have not bought insurance for.
popbottle, Nov 23 2015
  

       I bunned it until I read [sophocles] comment.
Voice, Nov 23 2015
  

       //If you lose, just transfer the larger doubled balance to a different account. Flip the coin again. If you lose, transfer & flip....transfer & filp...transfer & flip... until you get to zero//   

       Actually, if debtors could be relied on to pay their debts, that strategy would be fine for the credit card companies. Although 30 out of 32 people would get to zero after four flips, there would be two people who lost each time and ended up owing 16 times as much. After another flip, one of them would get zero, but the other one would owe 32 times their original debt, etcetera. It works the same way as "doubling up" on any other betting system.
MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 24 2015
  
      
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