New Credit Card Bill Means Significant Changes For Consumers

Baltimore Sun:

Ready access to credit, coupled with teaser interest rates, generous reward programs, grace periods and the absence of annual fees enticed many Americans to rely on credit cards for even the smallest purchases. But when credit card companies hiked interest rates with little warning and slapped on snowballing penalties, consumer groups fought for change. Now that President Barack Obama has signed a credit card reform bill into law that curtails many of the fees and billing practices that have been so lucrative for card issuers, credit card representatives are predicting these perks may be harder to find as the industry evolves in response.

Read the whole story: Baltimore Sun

Comments

[KillTheMessenger]

No change to me, whatsoever. I never use my credit cards. I don't have to. So the new law does really nothing for me as a financially responsibly acting person.

[QueenOfViolets]

Nowadays you have to present a credit card before you rent a car or reserve a hotel room.

If fewer people will be able to qualify for credit cards in the future, that could put quite a crimp on the travel industry in America.

Rental car agencies and hotel chains are going to have to figure out some new rules or some major companies could end up being forced out of business.

[KillTheMessenger]

No, you don't. A debit card will do just as well. No problems except those in your own mind.

[Phil Waste]

What a monumental blunder by President Barack Obama and the Democrat congress. Failure to make the law immediate and failure to put a cap on the interest just shows how much congress and the white house are in the pockets of the banksters. What a great show they made getting all the bankers in one room and President Barack Obama chewing their butts. We see now who really got reamed. We the people.

[66rock]

No blunder here by the president. In case you missed it, there was a vote on the cap about 10 days ago and it failed by majority.

[sheila]

Anyone else wonder why, when we are applying for individual health insurance policies, we are treated as a "risk pool of one" and rates are set, pretending there is nobody else insured with their company, but when we are applying for individual credit cards, all of a sudden, we are expected to pay for all the deadbeats they intentionally did not vet for good credit history?

which is it? are we a risk pool of one, in which case, we should only have to pay fees according to our history (credit, health or otherwise), or are we part of a national pool, where all upsides and downsides are amortized across the entire customer base?

seems to me like they manipulate actuarial tables to get a preferable outcome for themselves, bribe congress, and voila! whatever is best for Big Banks, Big Insurance (Big Energy, etc.) is suddenly "justifiable" because of the "numbers." it's all a big lie.

[GeraldAnthro]

The Banking Mafia
The criminal banks have run the biggest robbery of all time with the sub-prime paper, and collusion of the credit rating agencys.
Caused the worst Depression of all time,

got a $2.7 trillion dollar bail out.

$2,700,000­,000.00

AND STILL CHARGE 402% USUARY LOAN SHARKING

RATES.

WHO CONTROLS CONGRESS?

ITS NOT THE AMERICAN PUBLIC.

http://warintel.blog​spot.com/2009/05/banking​-mafia.html

This credit card bill is all show, no meat.

Gerald
Anthropologist
Series 7 & 13

[sheilaofmiami]

The more they say things have changed, the more I know they are the same.

No cap on interest. This is un-G-dly, and most unkind!!!!

[Mark2100]

What's changed that's meaningful? They are still going to r pe the American people with Mafia style interest rates.

[tomasedison]

We want more of those FREE credit card giveaway programs !!!!

Is anybody dumb enough to really believe they are free ?

[Deaninphilly]

"New Credit Card Bill Means Significant Changes For Consumers"

Why do they keep using this headline. This bill has no significant changes for consumers. Usury was the main concern the rest was needed to be done. Since usury was not addressed the rest is meaningless.

[duchessofdork]

Unfortunately, it's too late to help most of us. The CC companies saw all this coming & already worked us all over.

It is welcomed legislation for the future CC holders.

Next, we need rate caps!

[drymartini1]

as long as people dont get up in arms that there is "no access to credit" for a lot of people who are seeing their credit lines shrink, its fine with me.

it pisses me off when people whine that CC companies are slashing credit lines since past year.
what did people expect? there is billions of $$ of untapped credit out there.

last thing the companies need is people start using them during recession and declaring bankruptacy !!

[fcsakes]

I don't give a flying crapola - I rarely use my one credit card! When the hell are they going to address the fact people used to be able to afford the basics (maybe splurge on the occasional frozen yogurt or a piece salmon which I haven't had in way over a year)? When? I am so sick of hearing about millions and billions and trillions - I deal in thousands and not too damn many of them either. People, like me, retired - worked over 35 years, never bought anything I couldnt afford, never been on welfare, never broke the law - for Christ's sake, I've never even had a traffic ticket! and now I can't afford auto insurance or any other kind of insurance. What the hell is going on?

God, I sound boring. Well, I am now, but wild as a hellcat not too many years ago, probably why I get a silly grin every now and then. Digression is good for the soul.

[corezz]

What a mess....bu­t in the end though and please dont flame me but i feel that the public should just have better mental control over their use of credit. For me my credit rate is about 20% but i have a fantastic credit score and the banks love giving me credit cards DESPITE my always paying off my full balance on time each month ... i have never paid a dime in interest in over 5 years. I am the appidemy of the worst customer credit cards would want to deal with but they keep coming back to me i guess in hopes that i do get fooled into their "new significant changes to credit card bills" (roll eyes)

Michelle
http://www.stockcoupons.com/

[proggirl]

If you dont' want to be flamed, don't make inflammatory remarks.
Preaching to us about what we've already done wrong and are not in a position to undo is both useless and insulting.
Instead of directing your pontification at people who allowed themselves to be suckered into this awful deal, how about getting mad at the snake oil salesmen who set it up, and helping us in changing the rules back so they're fair like they used to be?
Rate caps!

[Loompa]

What a farce this bill is - no rate caps - way ta go, BamBam

[pbgv23]

Talk to the Senate, they're the ones who voted against the rate cap amendment. My senators (from NJ) voted in favor. Did yours? http://politics.nytimes.com/congress/votes/111/senate/1/191

[duchessofdork]

Are you kidding?! I'm in freakin Texas . . . Good luck getting any of our reps to vote in our interests.

[JackNasty]

Significant changes: what significant changes?

[apoyo]

Screw the perks. Just don't rip us off.

We should help out small businesses by paying with cash.
Cut out the middle man, the credit card industry.
They were collecting fees from everyone.

We should use credit cards only for large purchases, like trips, electronics or car rentals.
Don't use credit for groceries, coffees, movies, ice cream runs, etc.
Stop paying the banks to rip everyone off.