The New Credit Card Rules: How Will They Really Affect You?
In a year-end gift to consumers, the Federal Reserve Board, along with the Office of Thrift Supervision and the National Credit Union Administration, announced on December 18 their approval of long-overdue new credit card rules that will limit the arbitrary rate hikes and fees imposed by credit card companies – but won’t take effect until July 1, 2010. The recent announcement arrived in the midst of a widening U.S. recession that continues to necessitate financial relief for consumers, making the 2010 start date of the new credit card rules particularly belated. Regardless of the Fed’s better-late-than-never approach to enforcing the improved credit card regulations, the new rules will benefit approximately 695 million American credit card users once they take effect. The following are some consumer-friendly provisions of the new rules:
