Page 29 - Book6E

CHAPTER 4
Plastic Money
Credit Card Law
The new legislation that went into effect February 22, 2010, is known as the Credit CARD Act or the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act (hereafter referred to as the "Act"). The Act addresses aspects of credit card expenditure that are most probably unknown to the majority of consumers, such as: making random interest rate changes which are often inadequately shown on credit card statements; applying the con-
sumer's payment to the balance with the
lowest interest rate first; and shortening
the pay cycle less than 21 days to facilitate
adding additional late fees if the payment
is not received on time; and, charges that
are incurred in extending increased credit
in order to charge exorbitant fees. The new
Act addresses and seeks to remedy unfair
practices associated with random interest rate changes and calculation of interest, the way consumer payments are applied to credit card debt, the charging of fees for late payments, clarity of activity on monthly statements and fees charged for over-the-limit transactions.
Unfair Interest Calcualtion . Eighty percent of Americans use credit cards. Of that 80%, very few realize that credit card companies have often charged arbitrary rate increases.
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Debt, n. An ingenious substitute for the chain and whip of
the slavedriver.
— Ambrose Bierce