Ending a two-year debate on financial reform, President Obama signed an 800-page bill in late July 2010 to reign in banks from risky trading, perilous home lending practices, and other “speculative trades.” As a result, Federal and state regulators have tighter oversight that may spark a reactive change in lending policies.
The law’s provisions include:
Legal Maximum [...]
The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009, which was signed into law last May will take effect on Monday, February 22nd. So what does the new credit card act say and how does it benefit credit card consumers?
Payment Allocation. Previously, credit agencies could assign your monthly payment to lower interest [...]
According to the Wall Street Journal, Chase will be rolling out a new points-based rewards program called “Ultimate Rewards” today. Here’s a snippet of the article:
Under the points-based program, dubbed Ultimate Rewards, customers will earn points for every dollar spent on certain Chase credit cards, with no earnings caps or expiration dates. Points can be [...]
This is just a quick note to let you know that the Senate passed their own version to Credit Card Holders’ Bill of Rights by a 90-5 margin. As soon as the House and Senate settle their differences, the bill will be sent on for the President’s signature.
Full details from FCN: Credit Card Reform: The [...]
In case you haven’t heard, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a new piece of credit card legislation last week. Dubbed the Credit Card Holders’ Bill of Rights, this bill would require card issuers to give cardholders 45 days notice of rate increases, prevent retroactive rate increases, and forbid other “unfair practices.” It’s now up [...]
This is remarkable. According to an article in the Chicago Tribune from earlier this year, a single family received 445 credit card offers, including 35 that were addressed to his kids, ages 8 and 11. The offers weighed in at a total of 23 pounds, and included pitches for 0% balance transfers, free airline miles, [...]
I just received an e-mail from a reader named Matthew who reports that American Express is re-working their cash back percentages on the AmEx Blue Cash rewards credit card. As you might recall, this card previously offered 5% cash back rewards on “Everyday” purchases (gas stations, grocery stores, and pharmacies) and 1.5% cash back on [...]
This is interesting… Apparently the IRS has changed their stance, and the fees associated with paying your taxes with a credit card are now deductible. Details are available from the always excellent Fairmark.com.
Here are the 2010 federal income tax rates.
Looks like Bank of America is jumping on the rate-increasing bandwagon…
“Starting with June account statements, any credit-card customer who carries a balance and has an interest rate below 10% will see his or her rate jump into double-digit territory.”
According to notices that cardholders have been receiving, it looks like the sub-10% rates will be jumping [...]
As a followup to my earlier articles about reduced credit limits, Smart Money reports that some card issuers are actually reducing credit limits below the current balance, thereby triggering over-limit fees/penalties.
While the Federal Reserve will ultimately require that issuers give cardholders 45 days notice before reducing a credit line to the point at which it [...]
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