Credit card interest rate increases are behind the House's vote Wednesday to make new rules on credit card companies immediately, accelerating the February enactment date in legislation previously passed by Congress.
Not only have credit card companies continued to use practices that will be outlawed under a strict law due to take effect in February, in many cases their policies have gotten harsher since the law passed.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, who is fighting for his political survival, proposed Monday an immediate interest rate freeze on existing balances for the estimated 700 million credit cards in circulation.
The House Financial Services Committee has voted to speed up the enactment of tough new credit card rules from mid-February of next year to Dec. 1 of this year.
Moving up the effective date of tough new regulations to protect credit card customers from sudden interest rate increases could be a double-edged sword, according to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
How much would you pay to keep your credit card?
Fed up with rising fees, interest rate hikes, limit cuts and other harsh changes to their credit cards, most consumers want the date for major reforms moved up.
Rep. Barney Frank, the tough-talking liberal ushering through a major rewrite of rules governing Wall Street, sounded a warning shot on Thursday to big banks: Start playing nice or Congress will make your life even more difficult.
The Federal Reserve proposed rules Tuesday to better protect Americans from sudden hikes in interest rates on credit cards.
The rate at which credit card holders fell behind on their payments was far worse in the second quarter than it was last year, but did improve sharply from the alarming level seen in the first three months of 2009.
The rules your credit card company operates by will start getting much clearer on Thursday. But just because you'll know what they're up to doesn't mean you're going to like what you learn.
Most major credit card companies say fewer customers defaulted on their accounts in July, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're financially better off.
Two major credit card providers reported more improvements in delinquency rates in June on Wednesday, an encouraging sign that borrowers are not in as bad shape as many had feared.
It could be time to kiss fixed-rate credit cards goodbye.
Credit card reform may be looming in the headlines, but for now the fine print is still hitting consumers hard.
Credit card interest rates wavered in the past week, with the lowest rates holding steady while some higher rates dipped.
Credit card holders who in ordinary years might have used their tax refunds to pay down their balances apparently spent the money elsewhere as the recession deepened in the first quarter.
The new credit card law is receiving widespread kudos as a victory for cardholders over the lenders that impose "gotcha" fees and penalties with scant justification and little notice.
President Barack Obama warned overeager shoppers and greedy credit card companies alike on Friday to act responsibly as he signed into law a bill designed to protect debt-ridden consumers from surprise charges.
New rules for credit card companies will clamp down on when they can hike interest rates and force them to spell out their terms in plain English. But opening your monthly statement could still be a dizzying experience.
The overhaul of the credit card industry is being hailed as a triumph for long-abused consumers. But before you start banking on falling interest rates or vanishing fees, you might want to read the fine print.
A look at legislation with sweeping new rules for the credit card industry that Congress sent to the president on Wednesday, as well as pending Federal Reserve regulations.
It's an end of an era for the thousands of college students who rely on MasterCard or Visa to get them through tight times.
The Senate has cleared the way for a final vote on prohibiting credit card companies from arbitrarily raising an individual's interest rate and charging many of the exorbitant fees.
Unable to stop the tide of foreclosures and job losses, lawmakers are hoping to give voters at least some breathing room in the economic downturn by banning arbitrary credit card rate hikes and excessive fees.