Obama signs law curbing surprise credit card fees

[gunslingingbird]

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama warned overeager shoppers and greedy credit card companies alike on Friday to act responsibly as he signed into law a bill designed to protect debt-ridden consumers from surprise charges.

The White House staged a signing ceremony in the Rose Garden, an indication of the legislation's importance to Obama. Though opposed by many financial companies, the bill cleared Congress with broad support.

About fucking time he did something about that! Though it hasn't happened to me personally, I know of people who had something like a 6% rate one month, and a 24% rate the next! These are people who make their payments on time and rarely carry over a balance from one month to the next. Yes, credit card companies are having problems, but they shouldn't look to get them solved by fucking over responsible people who use their services.

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[Facetious]

At last ! The end of the Sunday Credit Card due dates (has anybody ever seen this ?)

Oh, and how about, exclusively for west coast usa cc holders -

For example your due date is on the 5th of a given month, let's just say that if falls on a Wednesday, well, you'd better get your fucking ass in the bank by noontime on that due date of the 5th, or you're looking at late charges !!:thefinger I don't give a fuck about east coast time ! I'm on the west coast.

I hereby cast a hex on all those creative corporate financier bastid mofos.
I only wish them the most excruciatingly painful of a death as possible. :flame:

I do I do !

 

[biomech]

Its good to see something finally being done, for too long the cc companies took advantage of the American people.

 

[Friday on my mind]

Its a good intial step but I still have some concerns that will probably mean more legislation will be needed.It has been reported that most of these surprise charges were on card holders who were late making payments or some other factor.And that since the companies are now prevented from doing that they might go after even people who always pay on time and carry no balances with annual fees etc to try to make up the money they are losing here.Thats why we probably will need and hopefully see further legislation and regulation if that happens.

My other point is that I highly doubt these kind of curbs on the credit card companies would have happened under a republican administration and congress.So while their may not be a big enough difference in the two parties IMO there for sure is a difference.

 

[don_equis]

About fucking time he did something about that! Though it hasn't happened to me personally, I know of people who had something like a 6% rate one month, and a 24% rate the next! These are people who make their payments on time and rarely carry over a balance from one month to the next. Yes, credit card companies are having problems, but they shouldn't look to get them solved by fucking over responsible people who use their services.

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More like it's about time someone did something about them credit cards! I give him this one, how about him tackling the credit rating system on how ver but very unfair it is to anyone trying to get a better paying job or how easy it is for fucking companies to just make up a charge and put in your report.

 

[bodie54]

At last ! The end of the Sunday Credit Card due dates (has anybody ever seen this ?)

Agree those Sunday credit card due dates are a total bullshit scam

 

[tiger1977]

Agree those Sunday credit card due dates are a total bullshit scam

I agree the Sunday payments suck. But the date never changes, only the day. Simply looking at a calendar before the monthly payment is due would rectify this problem. Everything that companies were doing was written into the contract that is signed by the card holders. Maybe people should actually read & understand what they're getting into before they sign a piece of paper.

This legislation is just going to force some card companies to go out of business. That leaves less companies to offer their services, which in turn will lead to higher interest rates and annual fees for the card holders.

 

[georges]

USA should have implemented this system:
- no credit for people that are unsolvent and/or that get too much in debt because they can't control their purchases.
- no credit for buying homes unless the person has a signicant account of money on her bank account as well as a job.
Assisting people is not going to help them but making them responsible and putting them in front of their financial tasks including dos and don'ts can help. Moral of the story, when you don't have money, don't leave or don't spend above your financial means.
For big purchases I either pay in cash or with a certified cheque but never with a credit card.

 

[historylover]

The idea behind this is unfortunate for two reasons, really.

1: Legislating a ceiling on "pricing" has never worked in the long run. Corporate caretakers have a responsibility towards stockholders vis-a-vis revebue growth. Therefore, annual fees WILL return as interest rates lower.

2: This legislation is a de facto admission by the administration that the credit card industry is highly monopolized. If Obama's administration could only encourage MORE credit card companies to enter the market, this legislation could've been unnecessary.

 

[gunslingingbird]

I agree the Sunday payments suck. But the date never changes, only the day. Simply looking at a calendar before the monthly payment is due would rectify this problem.

Oh, yes, the date ABSOLUTELY changes. I've had an AMEX card for almost a decade, and in that time my payment due date has gradually moved back from the 18th of the month to the 7th of the month.

 

[D-rock]

The credit card legislation is good for what it does, but it's about two decades too late.


As far as when a bill arrives I think the most commonly held belief is that for ethical purposes people should be given at least about three weeks from when they get the bill to when it's due. Of course some corporations don't follow that.

 

[tiger1977]

Oh, yes, the date ABSOLUTELY changes. I've had an AMEX card for almost a decade, and in that time my payment due date has gradually moved back from the 18th of the month to the 7th of the month.

That is surprising. I've had 2 cc for the past 9 years and the dates have never changed. My due date has been on the 9th of each month, regardless of what day that fell on during the week. That sucks that yours changed like that. Any reason for it? Or was it written into your contract.