Do I Keep Hoping?
Back in May I posted about the new changes being proposed by the Office of Thrift Supervision and Congress to curb credit card abuses by credit card issuers: Do I Dare Hope?
Today I read this news:
Fed moves on credit card crackdown
Bank regulators approve proposal to eliminate industry practices like ‘double-cycle billing’ as banks push back. New rules could be in place by end of year.
If approved, the Fed’s rules will mean an end to double-cycle billing, which averages out the balance from two previous bills. That means that consumers who carry a balance can get hit with retroactive interest on their previous month’s bill – even if they’ve already paid that off.
Consumers would also be given a reasonable amount of time to make payments, and payments would be applied to higher-rate balances first to reduce interest penalties and fees.
Credit card statements would clearly list the time of day that a payment is due, and any changes to accounts would be in bold or listed separately.
And, finally, no more universal defaults, a policy which allows credit card issuers to increase the interest rate on one card if a customer misses a payment on another card.
— Click here to read the full story.
