Free Republic

NEW YORK (AP) -- It's no mistake. This credit card's interest rate is 79.9 percent. The bloated APR is how First Premier Bank, a subprime credit card issuer, is skirting new regulations intended to curb abusive practices in the industry. It's a strategy other subprime card issuers could start adopting to get around the new rules.

The Federal Reserve on Friday issued proposals to restrict various credit-card billing practices, including double-cycle billing and unreasonable late charges. The proposals aim to protect credit-card users and clarify costs by prohibiting actions such as raising an annual percentage rate unless certain exceptions apply, treating a payment as late unless consumers have been provided with a reasonable amount of time to make payments and unfairly maximizing charges. -SNIP- In a statement Friday, Edward Yingling, president and chief executive of the American Bankers Association, said the Fed's proposal is an "unprecedented regulatory intrusion" into the marketplace. "The proposal would greatly restrict...