Regulators at the Federal Reserve, the Office of Thrift Supervision and the National Credit Union were able to do what Congress failed to do. Regulators created legislation that fights against unfair practices by credit card companies. The new credit card rules state that:
- Credit card companies can no longer randomly raise rates on current outstanding balances.
- Credit card companies can no longer choose to apply payments to lower interest rate debt.
- Credit card companies can no longer use double cycle billing to calculate finance charges.
- Credit card companies have to mail customer statements at least 21 days before due date.
- Credit card companies have to notify customers 45 days in advance of any account changes.
- Credit card companies can no longer charge exorbitant membership fees that eat up most of the available credit.
These new rules will not take effect until the summer of 2010. While these rules do not address all of the problems with the credit card industry, these rules are a good start.
Photo by The Consumerist
