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Editor's Note: Have you been the victim of unfair credit card charges? Complain here.
As documented by SanDiego6 news today, consumer groups such as UCAN have been warning consumers that credit card rates, terms, and fees are changing for the worse. But there is some hope for serious credit card reform. On December 18th, the Federal Reserve is scheduled to vote on credit card reforms that may bring some relief to customers who face a variety of ways for being hit with late fees, universal defaults, shorter payment periods and confusing payment allocations for different balances. Credit card users likely also would see easier-to-read tables in their monthly statements as a result of the changes.
The new rules, which were proposed earlier this year, are expected to total some 1,000 pages. They need approval of the Federal Reserve, the Office of Thrift Supervision and the National Credit Union Administration, which all are expected to act this Thursday.
Consumer groups say practices of credit card companies blindside consumers and U.S. lawmakers have threatened legislation if regulators did not use their consumer protection powers to reform the industry. With Democrats strengthening their control of the next Congress that convenes in January and the financial services sector in turmoil, credit card companies that resisted the changes increasingly have accepted them as inevitable.
Banking regulators have been using focus groups to test the impact of changing credit card rules for the past couple of years and on Thursday are expected finalize some changes. They are expected to:
Additional congressional legislation in 2009 is expected to add even more restrictions on some of the most egregious of the credit card company practices. In 2007, Americans were using an estimated 694.4 billion credit cards with Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover logos, according to the Card Industry Directory. So there are a LOT of customers affected by these practices.
UCAN member Sandy Law knows first-hand about the new way some credit card companies are treating customers. The former banker now pays the bills on the card her mother has had for 22 years with a perfect record.
"Payments always have been paid on time -- paid in full," swears Sandy.
Two months ago, she made an error and was $2 short on the full payment. She was socked with $64 in finance charges
When she and UCAN complained to Chase Bank, she was told, "It's just the way we do business."
Law is now closing the account and shopping for a better card. For many, the only way to fight back is to close the account and shop for a better card. It's what all consumers can do by checking card rates at websites such as bankrate.com or lowcards.com But until new regulations and legislation are implemented, those choices will not be sufficient to protect consumers from credit card company abuses.
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sitelinks
You may be familiar with sitelinks, the links that show up underneath the first search result and which lead to specific pages deeper within the site. Sitelinks enable users to jump directly to important parts of a site, which is often useful for large, complex websites. Sitelinks have the additional advantage of giving users an overview of a website's content by highlighting some of the popular parts of the site. For webmasters, sitelinks are also beneficial because they help to expose parts of your site that users may not know about. For instance, a search for NASA provides links to a gallery of images, a page about Space Shuttle and ISS missions, and so on:
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This is a good site shared
This is a good site shared in my radioblende.Site links have the additional advantage of giving users an overview of a website's content by highlighting some of the popular parts of the site. For webmasters, site links are also beneficial because they help to expose parts of your site that users may not know about.
It’s true and it was not
It’s true and it was not even the abusive action of some credit card company. Here is one that House Bill 1292 is working its way through Congress right now, and it is aimed at blacklist prevention pertaining to credit card companies, calling it a form of discrimination.horoscopes How blacklisting works is that a credit card company looks at the stores you shop at, and if they don’t like them, they will cut your limit and damage your credit score, keeping you from accessing other credit such as a mortgage or other personal loans.
great article!
great article!
House Bill 1292
Cardholder must be vigilant about their rights and ask help to those experts in this industry. It’s true and it was not even the abusive action of some credit card company. Here is one that House Bill 1292 is working its way through Congress right now, and it is aimed at blacklist prevention pertaining to credit card companies, calling it a form of discrimination. How blacklisting works is that a credit card company looks at the stores you shop at, and if they don’t like them, they will cut your limit and damage your credit score, keeping you from accessing other credit such as a mortgage or other personal loans. American Express did just that to one Kevin Johnson, who they blacklisted for shopping at Wal Mart, and nearly ruined his credit score. House Bill 1292 would stop this kind of thing. Credit card companies are trying to tell us where to shop, which is why we should all support House Bill 1292.
The wave of the future
The wave of the future appears to be that credit card companies fully intend to impose increased fees, added restrictions and more abuses. UCAN's two Chase Card complaints are a reflection of just the beginning of what's to come unless the 2009 Congress passes some meaningful credit card reform.Total Cleanse
Solar Electric
I looked into solar electric panels for my house and found prices from $ 20-30m.
If I save $ 25.00 per month it would take 8-12 years to have a payback.
Even with a tax deduction it would take many years. Also my income will not allow me to take a full deduction so at this time it does not make any sense to go Solar.
Any suggestions?
Credit Card Company Comment About the Future
We saved the banks' hides with a bailout and now the credit card companies are skinning us alive. The wave of the future appears to be that credit card companies fully intend to impose increased fees, add restrictions and become even more abusive to their customers. UCAN's two Chase Card complaints are a reflection of just the beginning of what's to come unless the 2009 Congress passes some meaningful credit card reform.
A Chase supervisor told UCAN that "People who make a mistake, regardless of their payment history or how long they've been with Chase, should not have agreed to use our card if they'd accept all of the terms and conditions and people who make mistakes should be more careful." Imagine a guy with a perfect payment history being charged more than $15 for the payment arriving one day late. Even more egregious, imagine a woman with a perfect payment record since 1992, misreading the bill numbers by $2 and being charged $64.54 in finance charges.
That is exactly what happened with the Chase card customers who contacted UCAN. And we believe it is just the beginning. Banks are buying up other banks with our taxpayer money. These buy-outs reduce consumer choices. Because no one knows what bank will go under next, comparing credit card and bank rates may be an exercise in futility and a way of the past.
It's like a double bailout/double whammy. We're in debt for generations to come and they're showing their gratitude by slamming us with more fees and abuses. Why? Because "they can". They took our money on the front end, started buying up all of the competition and are making it doubly on the back end.
We all felt powerless before the 2008 elections and found out our united voices can do much more than we thought. Calls and letters to legislators demanding stringent restrictions against the credit card companies could save us all.
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