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Obama Wants Credit Card Legislation This Month

Asks Congress for fast action on Credit Cardholder's Bill of Rights

By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com

May 9, 2009

• Credit Tips And Tricks • Get Control of What You Owe • No Easy Way Out Of Credit Card Debt • Penalty Fees, Interest Rate Hikes, and Misleading Contracts Await Credit Card Shoppers • "Convenience Checks" Carry a Heavy Price Tag • Understanding Credit • Credit Bureaus: Who You're Dealing With • Reading Your Credit Report • Credit Scoring: The Fickleness of FICO • Credit Knowledge: A Long, Hard, Struggle --- News • New Credit Card Rules Take Effect February 22 • Credit Card Direct Mail Back on the Rise • FTC Urged To Place Tighter Controls On 'Free' Credit Reports • Attorneys General Warn of 'Free' Credit Report Confusion • Retailers: Hidden Credit Card Fees Cost Jobs • Interchange Fees Fleecing Consumers, Retailers Say • Minnesota Sues Clinic For Credit Card Fraud • Retailers Applaud GAO Report On Interchange Fees • Schumer Moves to Clean Up Credit Reporting Ads --- • More about credit cards

President Barack Obama used his Saturday radio address to press Congress to pass a “credit cardholder’s bill of rights” and get it to his desk before the end of May.

"Americans know that they have a responsibility to live within their means and pay what they owe," Obama said. "But they also have a right to not get ripped off by the sudden rate hikes, unfair penalties and hidden fees that have become all too common."

Obama said abuses in the credit card industry have only gotten worse during the recession. He said fine print and hidden fees have victimized many cardholders over the last few years, and with the economy in recession, consumers can ill afford to bear the brunt of predatory behavior.

"Instead of fine print that hides the truth, we need credit card forms and statements that have plain language in plain sight, and we need to give people the tools they need to find a credit card that meets their needs," he said.

Though the House has passed the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights, similar legislation has become bogged down in the Senate, where the banking industry is mounting a counter-offensive.

Banks say new regulations that will impose many of the same things in the bill are scheduled to take effect in mid 2010, and that they need that additional time to prepare for the chances.

Backers of the legislation say relief is needed now, and the bill would add protections not included in the new regulations. The bill would outlaw “double-cycle” billing and retroactive rate increases. It would also prevent banks from offering bait-and-switch interest rates and assess hidden and unfair interest rate changes by charging interest on balances that have already been paid.

"There is no time for delay,” the President said. “We need a durable and successful flow of credit in our economy, but we can't tolerate profits that depend upon misleading working families. Those days are over.”

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