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Credit-Card Fees Curbed
The Wall Street Journal ^ | 05-20-09 | SUDEEP REDDY

Posted on 05/20/2009 4:28:09 AM PDT by GOP_Lady

Sweeping new restrictions on credit-card companies would ban extra fees and fluctuating rates and arm tens of millions of consumers with more information on their debts.

Starting in February 2010, a Senate bill passed Tuesday would ban practices such as charging consumers to pay by phone and sudden surges in interest rates. Payments above the minimum due would be applied to balances with the highest interest rates. Information once relegated to tiny print must be made clearer, and consumers will soon be told how long it would take to pay off a balance if they pay only the minimum due.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: credit; creditcard
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1 posted on 05/20/2009 4:28:09 AM PDT by GOP_Lady
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To: GOP_Lady

2 posted on 05/20/2009 4:28:44 AM PDT by GOP_Lady
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To: GOP_Lady

The interest rates will increase for everyone to be “fair”.


3 posted on 05/20/2009 4:29:44 AM PDT by BipolarBob (It takes a Kenyan village to raise a US president.)
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To: BipolarBob

Remember when credit card interest was deductible. Is Obama going to add a government “fee” to our accounts??


4 posted on 05/20/2009 4:31:26 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: GOP_Lady

This will simply make it more difficult for marginally creditworthy consumers to get credit.


5 posted on 05/20/2009 4:32:19 AM PDT by Mr Ramsbotham ("Baldrick, to you the Renaissance was just something that happened to other people.")
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To: GOP_Lady

Who cares? The way the Credit Card Industry is headed, by Feb ‘10 there won’t be a CC industry...


6 posted on 05/20/2009 4:32:57 AM PDT by prismsinc (A.K.A. "The Terminator"!)
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To: GOP_Lady

I know many people who will be happy to see this type of government control.

The problem was not the credit card companies/banks but people living way beyond their means. If this were not the case they could take their business elsewhere.

It’s not good news if freedom is what you’re after.

When the governmnet “lightens your load” in one instance it doubles, triples, or quadruples it in another.


7 posted on 05/20/2009 4:34:10 AM PDT by Boucheau
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To: GOP_Lady
The US is a global debt junkie.

When is Timmy The Wunderkind going to begin printing warning labels on US Treasury bonds: 'Warning This Currency Is Being Devalued Before Your Eyes"

8 posted on 05/20/2009 4:34:10 AM PDT by ninonitti
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To: Mr Ramsbotham
"This will simply make it more difficult for marginally creditworthy consumers to get credit."

Sounds like a good plan to me. They will have to save more, pay their bills on time, and build a good credit rating.

9 posted on 05/20/2009 4:38:00 AM PDT by mosaicwolf (Strength and Honor)
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To: ninonitti

Another example of redistributing wealth and scr...... responsible people who pay their bills on time etc...


10 posted on 05/20/2009 4:38:48 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: GOP_Lady

I’ve always wondered about the legality of increasing the number of frequent flier miles needed for a trip. If they can raise the requirement from 25,000 miles to 35,000, it seems to me that they could raise it to a billion miles, thus rendering worthless all those miles we’ve collected.


11 posted on 05/20/2009 4:43:08 AM PDT by TruthShallSetYouFree (Kenya tell me where Obama was born?)
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To: Boucheau
The problem was not the credit card companies/banks but people living way beyond their means.

No, that's not necessarily true at all. In the past, I've been in situations (major car and home repairs, medical bills, and wholly unexpected college/university fees) in which I would have been royally screwed if I did not have a credit card to back me up.

The credit card companies are in fact THE problem, with their fraudulent lending and pricing policies, and countless pitfalls, any one of which leads to major fees and interest rate hikes at usury levels, courtesy of those fine-print "Important Amendments" we all get in the mail from time to time. The whole system, as it is now constituted, is one big debt trap.

Having been screwed myself by my credit card issuers in the past, I actually agree with Obama on the need for this legislation because this industry is wildly out of control, with prior congressional complicity (Kennedy, Biden, and Dodd).

Sorry to burst some bubbles on this thread, but even a clock is right twice a day.

12 posted on 05/20/2009 4:45:36 AM PDT by Virginia Ridgerunner (Sarah Palin is a smart missile aimed at the heart of the left!)
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To: GOP_Lady

I like the disclosure info, but whenever something is changed quickly like this, the “Law of Unintended Consequences” will kick in and cause problems.

Same thing with the new mileage and emission standards.


13 posted on 05/20/2009 4:47:25 AM PDT by Right Wing Assault ( Obama, you're off the island!)
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To: Virginia Ridgerunner

I have two credit cards.

I have no problem with the two companies at all.

They have treated me very well for years.

Am I an exception?


14 posted on 05/20/2009 4:49:26 AM PDT by GOP_Lady
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To: GOP_Lady

This will probably hurt the cc industry more because by raising the interest rates at usury rates the people who can afford to pay will just wait and pay cash. So raising the rates on these people may work for the first couple of years until people pay their debt off, then people will shed the cc and start paying cash. The cc industry will shrink (which is a good thing) less users who can afford to pay their debt and less fees from retailers.


15 posted on 05/20/2009 4:49:49 AM PDT by thomas16
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To: GOP_Lady

Though I pay my CCs off every month and do not carry a balance I do not have a problem with these consumber protections.

CC companies should still have the right to charge the appropriate level of interest based on credit risk. They just crossed the line by screwing everyone.


16 posted on 05/20/2009 4:50:00 AM PDT by TSgt (Extreme vitriol and rancorous replies served daily. - Mike W USAF)
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To: thomas16

I agree.


17 posted on 05/20/2009 4:50:27 AM PDT by GOP_Lady
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To: Virginia Ridgerunner

I agree


18 posted on 05/20/2009 4:51:06 AM PDT by thomas16
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To: GOP_Lady
A measure to allow retailers to offer discounts for customers paying with cash, check or debit -- all cheaper for merchants than credit cards -- failed to reach a full Senate vote, as did most other amendments.

They're not allowed to do this now? There are lots of gas stations around me that charge about 4 cents per gallon less if one pays with cash.

ML/NJ

19 posted on 05/20/2009 4:51:25 AM PDT by ml/nj
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To: GOP_Lady

What I really resent is when you pay off a credit card and close the account, your FICO score drops. That is simple wrong and should have been addressed by this legislation.


20 posted on 05/20/2009 4:52:21 AM PDT by kittymyrib
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