March 8, 2010
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News: New CC Regs - A more-level playing field
With the new government mandated consumer credit card protection regulations having just gone into effect, it will be interesting to see how the effectiveness plays out. Will the credit card-issuers be able to circumvent the intended protections or will life actually be more fair for the credit card consumer?
It might be worth while knowing what to watch out for. This is a little rundown on what some of the new credit card protections were supposed to achieve so we can watch out for things and try, at least, to hold the banks accountable. The more straight-forward and useful items are listed here. Most of these categories have sub-categories. Each of these sub-categories will be treated by clicking it's hyperlink. This list is purposely generalized so if any of our esteemed readers has an issue with their credit card issuer, a quick-scan of these categories will give the victim a heads up that they may have a legitimate stance to defend themselves. Please refer to the related and more-detailed articles for the lowdown on the intent of the new government regs and the protection they are designed to deliver:
o No fair jacking interest rates on old debt.
o No fair jacking interest without justification.
o No fair jacking interest for the first year of a new account.
o Payments over the minimum must be applied to the highest-interest portions first.
o Credit card Fees must be legitimate and reasonable.
o Closing dates must be consistent. No more ugly surprises.
o Due dates must be consistent. No more ugly surprises.
o No more Universal default ("apples & oranges").
o Minor gouging prohibited (children, of course).
o Full Disclosure.
o What's Next?Remember that all this protection came about when good people like yourselves took the initiative and complained to their congressmen. Without such warriors for the cause of fairness, our nation would have no fairness at all. Freedom isn't free and fairness certain isn't a given. It's the opinion of this writer that Senator Dodd (D Conn) who spearheaded these credit card protections, willingly became a political martyr for us all by taking on the huge $4 trillion financial industry. In so doing, he sacrificed the favor of the most influential powers of his home state, spelling political suicide. From now on he will be relegated to being a heroic ex-senator only appreciated by those who remember his legacy.