The rules of the game have changed for credit card companies. As of February 22, 2010, new federal legislation went into effect which puts a whole host of constraints on the industry. One of the biggest new rules included in The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act (a.k.a. the CARD Act) include restrictions on imposing so-called “universal default” charges, a practice that had credit card companies going through a client’s financial records and penalizing them with higher interest rates for making late payments even on unrelated bills. Other changes include a requirement to give clients 45 days written notice before raising credit card interest rates; a virtual ban on retroactive rate hikes; new marketing restrictions; new minimum payment disclosure requirements and no fees for paying your bill online or by telephone. And while this is seemingly bad for credit card companies, there is a flipside to this CARD. (more)
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