It was signed into law last May 22 by President Obama but the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009 officially went into effect last August 20. And that's just the first phase of it.

It won't be long now before the said reforms in the credit card industry that would put an end to sudden jumps in interest rates and credit card fees will be made into law. In a sweeping vote of 90-5 Tuesday (May 19, 2009), the Senate passed the credit card reform bill only a few weeks after the House passed its own version of the bill in a 357-70 vote.