Credit Card Relief Starts Today

Per CNN: http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/19/news/economy/credit_card_reform/index.htm

Does this mean we should now start calling our credit card companies to roll back all the changes they made in the past few months in expectation of this day?

I know my APR went up in a few cases; almost every credit card I have has had the due date moved up several days. With one of my credit cards, the day the statement is actually PROCESSED ONLINE isn't until 10 DAYS after the statement's closing date. If I didn't use online bill pay, I'd probably receive the paper statement just over a week before it's due.

Libertarians think we have MORE freedom when credit card companies are allowed to pull shit like this.

One card that I have just pushed back the due date by about 5 days. It didn't matter to me as I left it the same on my bill pay calendar, so they will get the payment the same day, it will just be 5 days early to them.

That's what a lot of the credit card companies did. They just overreached in making changes, knowing that they would soon be limited in the changes they can make.

Discover was my favorite card, and unfortunately, they were the one that seemed to screw me over the most. My due date was pushed back by almost ONE WEEK. I can't remember if my APR went up, since I don't normally carry a balance anyway. My cash back went from increments of $20 to increments of $50.

My original Visa and Mastercard got moved to the back of my wallet due to them pulling things like this, and I had been loyally using Discover for years because they treated me well. I will get around to calling them and see if they can scale back some of the changes they made; if they say, no, I guess they get moved to the back of the wallet as well.

and I don't carry any balances from month to month, (actually pay a few bucks ahead, just to use round numbers in my checkbook and make my math easier). I use Discover as my #1 card then a M/C as a back up and because it's got a 3% rebate on gasoline. So whatever interest rate they want to charge is fine with me, since I won't be paying it. If they do screw around with the rebate programs, I will look elsewhere as I do take advantage of them. I always feel that these companies make enough from merchant fees to make their profits (and if they don't, it's not really my problem), so I take advantage of them.

Depends on which state the card is issued in. If the state law has an opt out option (I believe Delaware does) then you can use it. If it does not (e.g. Utah) then the credit card company will not have any opt-out feature (why? their best interests to "comply with the law") and any changes they make on you are pretty much irreversible.

Opt out provisions that are now federally mandated are for new changes from today onwards. The new federal law is not retroactive.

There are lots of cases I see daily where I wish I could roll back the changes. Sadly I can't. All I can do is give the head office's address and take their complaint and lend a sympathetic ear and do what the caller wants that I can do.

Mark.

I don't think they will roll back the changes, but I thought for good accounts, if you call in and ask for a lower interest rate, or a raise in your credit limit, don't they sometimes listen? I figured this would be a similar situation. I don't know if they would be able to move the statement date, but I figured if I called in and said that I was displeased about getting just 1-2 weeks to pay my bill, they would do something else to retain me as a customer -- maybe increase my credit limit, or lower my APR, or some sort of concession.

If your credit card was issued from an institution in South Carolina then you're most likely with a credit union.

Most credit card companies base their issuing banks out of Delaware, Utah, or North Dakota...

Right now is definitely NOT a good time to try and get any kind of concession out of any credit card company. It does not hurt to try, nor ask for a "supervisor" or even their supervisor. You'll spend time on hold and getting exasperated but give it a go - but if you don't even try then nothing will happen. Just though that credit card operations aren't dishing out a lot of freebies anymore.

Taken from: http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20090819/BIZ/90819035/1263/rss

"Credit card companies will no longer be able to raise interest rates on existing balances if you’ve been paying on time, won’t be allowed to raise rates the first year an account is open unless a time-limited promotional rate is explained up front, and will have to review accounts every six months if they do hike rates, to see if they should lower them again."