Let's not forget the Obama administrations credit card reform act goes in effect in Feb.

[Hawaii Hiker]

Though I wish it would have gone a little further, there still are some good reforms coming to credit card holders next month....They won't be able to raise rates so easily, when you pay your bill the amount over the minimum payment will be applied to the higher portion of the balance...And there are other provisions as well...

So a big thanks to the Obama Administration for getting this done...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. That's a very good thought.

Sometimes it's easy to forget the good things he's done, when we're so busy complaining about the other stuff.

[rwheeler31]

2. Yes yes yes

It maybe baby steps but going down the right road.

[levander]

3. Good link to a better description of the bill?

I didn't even know this bill existed, let alone passed.

It's a damn good thing somebody did something about the credit card companies. Just letting them manipulate Delaware into not regulating them has gone on far too long.

[Hawaii Hiker]

7. Here's one

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30846334/

[Writer]

34. That is a VERY good bill. n/t

[harun]

39. I agree, a number of very important provisions. If someone is even remotely

paying attention now they can keep from getting completely screwed by the CC companies.

[dkf]

4. How will this affect 0% teaser rate cards?

My sister was eying a 0% offer because she thinks the new credit card laws will keep them at 0. I told her she better be careful because there are probably a whole lot of caveats in that but she is sure the new law will keep her safe.

Any ideas?

[JTFrog]

5. Is there such a thing as free credit?

What would be the incentive to lend money at 0%? And what administration could possibly pass a law that would force a lender to do so?

:shrug:

[girl_interrupted]

23. Yes, the Banks got interest free loans via our taxpayer dollars

for Bailouts and no time frame in which to pay it back. Consumers got jack...no caps and concealed weapons in National Parks. This Bill is a joke, I'd like to forget.

[Milo_Bloom]

25. Yes, b/c they collect from the sale as well.

You do realize that the credit card company gets money everytime you use your card, whether you pay the balance in full or not, whether you carry a balance or not?

They make MORE money when you carry a balance, but they could write a business plan on 0% cards from good credit people who use them enough, simply collecting the 1-2% in fees from the charges.

[mkultra]

16. recommend that your sister read the agrement

[dkf]

19. I told her there are probably stiff penalties for not

Paying on time and instant increases in rates also but she says the new rules prevent that and supercede anything on the contract.

I think people who rely on the law are fooling themselves.

[mkultra]

20. i think maybe your sister just lacks common sense

just saying.

[dkf]

29. She believes what she hears and this is what she hears.

[levander]

36. Show your sister this...

From another post in this thread, we have this link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30846334">Click

From it:

The bill prevents credit card issuers from raising interest rates in the first year after a credit card account is opened, except:

* When the increase is under a variable interest rate.
* At the end of the promised time period for a promotional rate. For example, the issuer can offer 3 percent for six months and then 12 percent after that. (The promotional period must be at least six months.)
* If the required minimum payment is not received within 60 days after the due date.

[Vattel]

6. I hate to be a whiner, but

this Bill is a half-assed attempt at reform. Does it help people like me who don't make late payments or exceed their credit limit? Well, having my payments applied to higher interest debt helps me quite a bit, but the credit card companies are responding to the reforms by raising their interest rates in general, and that hurts me a lot. Real reform would require the consumer's explicit consent to any change in terms.

[flpoljunkie]

8. Congress should have halted their egregious interest rate raising. Yet they sat on their hands.

What Congress really need to do is bring back the usury laws--at least make commercial and investment banks abide by the 15% credit unions are allowed to charge--16% in special cases.

Standing up for the people and for what's right and fair would go a long way to get them reelected in 2010, but I am not holding my breath. They are too beholden to the campaign funds they receive from the banking and finance industries and the lobbyists who bundle campaign cash for them.

Why is it that Dick Durbin has only FIVE co-sponsors for his bill, S.752, the Fair Elections Now Act, public financing of federal campaigns. They do not want a level playing field.

We could ameliorate this greatly if we spoke up and voted in greater numbers, but, alas, we don't--to our great detriment.

[levander]

32. True, but what the bill does do isn't bad...

Isn't bad at all. It's a big step in the right direction.

And, thanks for mentioning the Fair Elections Now Act. I don't know how you could have been paying any attention at all to the health care reform process and not realize campaign finance reform is desperately needed. It's the only way this country is going to be able to get to the point where it can address serious issues in an effective manner.

[flpoljunkie]

33. But how much will it really matter to those who've had their rates raised egregiously and unfairly.

[levander]

35. These days, I'm just happy to get SOMETHING...

For people who've already had their rates jacked up, it does nothing.

In the future though, credit cards will have to wait sixty days before jacking up the rate. Several months back, I forgot to pay my credit card bill one month. I got the bill the next month and they had jacked the rate up 20%. Can you believe that? 20%. They would have had to have waited for me to be another 60 days late before jacking it up under these new rules.

But, I agree, this law don't go far enough. I'd love to see more done about the credit card industry. But, I would not be surprised at all if this were the first effort at federal regulation of the credit card industry. I know most of the credit card regulation is at the state level. And, all the credit card companies have moved their headquarters to Delaware. Because that state does nothing for regulation. They let those companies get away with murder. So, to see that the federal government has done something. And, something that doesn't look detrimental at all (like the health care bill does) but actually advantageous, is enough to make me smile these days.

[flpoljunkie]

37. If the Dems want to win really big in 2010, they could reinstate the usury law to a maximum 15%.

Fifteen percent maximum sounds good when people's credit card rates have been raised to as much as 50% in some cases. They need to heavily regulate 'pay day' loan interest rates. These loans are an outrageous ripoff of those most economically vulnerable.

But, will they? Especially in the Senate where banks are said to 'own the place.'

[levander]

41. Think campaign finance reform is more important than Democrats winning big for this one...

The vote for that bill got excellent bipartisan support. Several Republicans voted against it, but you have to consider that Democrats most likely wrote the bill. And, the majority of Republicans still voted for it.

With campaign finance reform, Republicans and Democrats could easily vote for this.

But, I'd much rather Democrats at least have more power because I'd trust them more in putting it on the agenda.

We'll lose seats in '10, but not so much that we'll lose control of either house. We won't be filibuster proof in the Senate, but with the bipartisan support of this bill in the face of having to stand down their major donors, it'll be plenty of power to get something better through.

And really, if the Washington politicians weren't so beholden to special interests, I bet the political environment wouldn't be as polarized. As it is now, Republicans and Democrats go in to negotiate with each other, and they've got special interests in the back room deciding whether or not they are going to fund each individual politician enough so that he can win his next election. If they could just negotiate without that influence in the back room, I can't imagine they wouldn't get a hell of a lot more done.

[Beacool]

15. I despise Chase.

I have a card with them (due to their take over of WAMU last year), they raised the interest rate to over 29%. I have excellent credit, pay on time and pay more than the minimum. Bunch of bloodsucking SOBs!!!!!!

:mad:

[dionysus]

18. you know what soothes the sting of high interest rates Bea?

Banky!!!
:hi:

[Beacool]

27. Hi, sweetie!!!

Yeah, banky is a soothing force.

Thank you!!!

:hug:

[Vinca]

9. Unfortunately, this month before the bill goes into effect will

be the biggest screw over of credit card holders in history. It also gives you an idea of what health insurance rates will be by 2014.

[depakid]

10. Already been happening

That was Potempkin legislation. It wasn't designed to actually help ordinary Americans- but merely to provide the pretense of doing so.

[chimpymustgo]

13. +1. This should be the OP.

[Clio the Leo]

11. It's affecting how I do my job...

.... I work in retail and we rely heavily on new credit card applications .... I have said for YEARS "you can put it on our card and you'll have no interest for a year and no payments for a year." Well, now you have to pay a minimum of 1% a month .... it's nothing, comes out to $10 if you charge $1,000 but I'm having to mentally rewrite my spiel. And every time I do so I go "DOAH! Darn you OBAMA!!!!" :) (kidding of course, the change is a GOOD thing)

[harun]

40. You sure that has something to do with this bill? Sounds more like

something they did on their own.

[dcsmart]

12. K & R..this is the way to think...

[Beacool]

14. Unfortunately, banks are taking advantage of the situation.

They are increasing the interest rates astronomically and charging outrageous fees to compensate for the estimated 50B dollars that they won't earn after February. It's a disgrace that they were allowed to rob the consumers in this manner.

x(

[freddie mertz]

17. Most card-holders have seen their interest rates jump up massively this this was passed.

And the Senate blocked an effort, passed in the House, to move the date of implementation forward.

The banks own the Senate.

[flpoljunkie]

21. Yes. Senator Durbin spoke the truth when he said, 'Frankly, the banks own this place.'

[girl_interrupted]

22. Great Bill if You're a Gun Owner, Otherwise it Sucks

No caps on interest rates. None. How does this help the consumer? It doesn't. But you can now carry concealed weapons in National Parks. What does one have to do with the other? Nothing. Yet it was included in this bill. Bill is a joke. Bernie Sanders had a great bill which would have capped interest rates, but we got this scam instead.

Banks got Interest Free loans for their Bailouts, with no time frame for payback. So if you're a bank or a gun owner you've got it made.

So you know...Thanks for nothing. This was a "change" we could have done without.

Once upon a time...so I'm told...you could actually claim the interest you paid on your credit cards, you also could collect a good interest rate on money in your savings account. No longer. Anything that could help the consumer is gone and everything to help the banks, now reigns.

A good alternative is this: "Move Your Money: A New Year's Resolution" Check out this article and this powerful new video and see why you should make it your New Year's resolution to move your money out of a "too big to fail banks" to community banks.
www.huffingtonpost.com/.../move-your-money-a-new-yea_b_406022.html

[tledford]

30. Yes, prior to 1984 (or was it '86?) consumer-loan interest was ...

a deductible item when figuring your AGI for tax purposes. Ronnie Raygun put an end to that.

[Milo_Bloom]

24. Thanks for nothing.

Another 0 impact law.

[TheKentuckian]

26. Our "reforms" are chock full of loopholes and delays

that allow corporate communists to rig the game before it begins and enough wiggle room to continue to make hay even after bills go into effect.

When you have a problem you can't just resolve it with ANY solution, the fix must actually affect the problem it is the resolution for. That I think is missed by people. I also don't believe many are really grasping that the function in a bill is not just what it says it does but more important is HOW, WHEN, WHO, and who and how it is paid for.

I thought we had learned this during the last thirty years and certainly the last eight that a bill can be labeled literally anything but what it does and how it does it are utterly different issues. Rules minus enforcement are hot air.

[uponit7771]

28. But did Obama save Bambi though?!!?! No?! Well....you know

[graywarrior]

31. Cap One just called to "remind" me

[lonestarnot]

38. Meh...

just more bullshit really.