CREDIT CARD CO. :CRIMINALS helping terrorism — The CT Blog

Labels: Business, Credit, credit card, CRIMINALS, Federal Reserve, Federal Reserve System, home, Money Management, National Credit Union Administration, Personal Finance, washington post

The Washington Post says federal regulators plan to announce new rules for the credit card industry.

THE CREDIT CARD COMPANIES HAVE INCORPORATED IN STATES WITH OUT ANY CONSUMER FRAUD LAWS.

AND THEMSELVES ARE ENGAGING IN CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE WITH USURY CREDIT CARD CHARGES, SOME AS HIGH AS 97%.

"The proposed regulations, which could be finalized by year's end, would label as "unfair or deceptive" practices that consumers have long complained about," the paper says. "That includes charging interest on debt that has been repaid and assessing late fees when consumers are not given a reasonable amount of time to make a payment. When different interest rates apply to different balances on one card, companies would be prohibited from applying a payment first to the balance with the lowest rate."

Federal regulators are moving ahead with new rules to stop "unfair and deceptive" practices involving credit cards and bank overdraft fees.

The Federal Reserve approved the changes today, a day after the Office of Thrift Supervision and the National Credit Union Administration signed off. As USA TODAY's Kathy Chu explains, the proposal would:

• Bar issuers from raising interest rates on existing debt, except under certain conditions, such as when a promotional rate expires or when a borrower pays 30 days or more late.
• Prohibit issuers from calculating one month of finance charges based on two months' worth of activity, a punitive practice called double-cycle billing.
• Require card issuers to apply monthly payments that exceed the required minimum at least partly to higher-rate card debt. Borrowers often face varying interest rates on credit card debt, for cash advances, balances transferred and purchases.
• Prevent financial institutions from charging checking-account customers a fee for paying an overdraft — unless the customer has had the chance to opt out of this payment.

Read the announcement and the full proposal (pdf) issued yesterday by the Office of Thrift Supervision.

The public will have 75 days to comment, and the regulators expect the rule to be final by the end of the year.

No immediate comment from the American Bankers Association, though ferocious opposition is likely to come.

Here's more from the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Washington Post, CNNMoney and the Associated Press.

Keep reading for more specifics.