I am extremely disappointed in HR 627, which is misleadingly hailed as the "Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights."
First off, I am one of those people who have been hit in the past couple of years with usury rates that came out of nowhere. I always paid on time and paid way more than the minimum. But the banks that we bailed out saw fit to raise my interest rates to 29% just because they knew they could get away with it.
My disappointment is due to the fact that this bill actually does VERY little to give relief to cardholders. It does NOT cap rates or fees. It explicity ALLOWS rate increases if a cardholder is late for 30 days or fails to comply with a workout agreement. So, for those who are already in financial trouble this bill gives the banks the blessing of high rates. If you're already having trouble, the bill will more than likely increase the likelihood that the cardholder will default even further, and probably will have to file bankruptcy. Thanks for nothing.
This bill gives no relief at all for those of us who have fulfilled out contract only to be hit with the higher interest rates. I always used to pay a lot more than the minimum. Now it is impossible because when the rate was raised, so was the payment, and now most of the payment goes to interest instead of principle.
Yes, it requires companies to give 45 days' notice, but banks were already doing that. The outcome is the same. Unless you can pay off your account in that time, you will have to pay the higher interest rate. Most people can't afford to pay the balance off in 6 weeks. If they could, they wouldn't be carrying the balance. Transferring is not always an option, especially with the tighter credit regulations, and even if you do transfer, after the introductory period is over, you're right back to that usury rate.
The bill does prevent card companies from increasing interest on existing card balances. But it won't take effect for so long, that most companies will get those rates raised before it takes effect. And again, for those of us who have already been mugged by these companies, there is no relief for us at all.
It limits to 3 the number of over-the-limit fees the company can charge for the same transaction. Why not cap that charge to one, since it's ONE transaction? Also, many times it's the company's interest charges being applied that cause the account to go over limit, and the cardholder still gets burned. There is NO protection against this practice.
Supposedly stops the "pay to pay" practice such as charges for phone payments and same day payments. I've been hit with these. But frankly, a $10.00 payment "fee" pales in comparison to an extra $200.00 in interest EVERY month!
Barring the issuance of cards to minors is a good thing and way overdue. There are other aspects of this bill that are helpful, but they are very minor when one understands that the extremely high interest rates are the major problem.
The Senate and House need to get real and cap the interest rates. Maybe when we start seeing 50% or more rates they'll do something. Yeah, right.

I am extremely disappointed in HR 627, which is misleadingly hailed as the "Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights."
First off, I am one of those people who have been hit in the past couple of years with usury rates that came out of nowhere. I always paid on time and paid way more than the minimum. But the banks that we bailed out saw fit to raise my interest rates to 29% just because they knew they could get away with it.
My disappointment is due to the fact that this bill actually does VERY little to give relief to cardholders. It does NOT cap rates or fees. It explicity ALLOWS rate increases if a cardholder is late for 30 days or fails to comply with a workout agreement. So, for those who are already in financial trouble this bill gives the banks the blessing of high rates. If you're already having trouble, the bill will more than likely increase the likelihood that the cardholder will default even further, and probably will have to file bankruptcy. Thanks for nothing.
This bill gives no relief at all for those of us who have fulfilled out contract only to be hit with the higher interest rates. I always used to pay a lot more than the minimum. Now it is impossible because when the rate was raised, so was the payment, and now most of the payment goes to interest instead of principle.
Yes, it requires companies to give 45 days' notice, but banks were already doing that. The outcome is the same. Unless you can pay off your account in that time, you will have to pay the higher interest rate. Most people can't afford to pay the balance off in 6 weeks. If they could, they wouldn't be carrying the balance. Transferring is not always an option, especially with the tighter credit regulations, and even if you do transfer, after the introductory period is over, you're right back to that usury rate.
The bill does prevent card companies from increasing interest on existing card balances. But it won't take effect for so long, that most companies will get those rates raised before it takes effect. And again, for those of us who have already been mugged by these companies, there is no relief for us at all.
It limits to 3 the number of over-the-limit fees the company can charge for the same transaction. Why not cap that charge to one, since it's ONE transaction? Also, many times it's the company's interest charges being applied that cause the account to go over limit, and the cardholder still gets burned. There is NO protection against this practice.
Supposedly stops the "pay to pay" practice such as charges for phone payments and same day payments. I've been hit with these. But frankly, a $10.00 payment "fee" pales in comparison to an extra $200.00 in interest EVERY month!
Barring the issuance of cards to minors is a good thing and way overdue. There are other aspects of this bill that are helpful, but they are very minor when one understands that the extremely high interest rates are the major problem.
The Senate and House need to get real and cap the interest rates. Maybe when we start seeing 50% or more rates they'll do something. Yeah, right.