New Credit Card Rules and How They Apply to You
New credit card rule have been enacted from the CARD (Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure) Act, created to protect consumers from predatory practices. Credit Card companies must now give you 45 days advance notice before raising your rates. Their billing statements must be reveal how long it takes to pay off a balance with just a minimal payment being made as a minimal payment increases your interest. Your interest can now only be increased once a year; no longer at the whim of the credit card companies.
They will now have restrictions on over-the-limit fees. You will no longer be able to automatically go over your limit at the point of purchase. Thus, no automatic over-the-limit fees will be applied. There are now fee caps. All Annual or application fees cannot equal more than 25% of the initial card limit.
Under 21? You will now need an adult co-signer or proof that you can pay the card. Gives parents and kids a chance to learn about the responsible usage of credit. Your statements will now be delivered no less than 21 days before your payment is due. Standardized billing with standardized times for receiving payments. Double billing within one month doesn’t exist any longer either as companies were double-cycle billing to change how interest was being calculated.
The new rules don’t cover corporate cards so watch for rate hikes there as the industry as a whole will take a loss in revenue of up to 10$ billion annually due to the current changes. Be sure to look for new fees; like annual fees, processing fees or activity fees. There will probably be cuts in rewards points as well.
Shop around for other cards. Check out all the above mentioned points. Keep those hard earned dollars of yours in your pocket, pay off your balances monthly and check out those smaller banks or credit card companies. Some of the worst offenders of practices that have changed were from some of our largest institutions.
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