Finally good news about credit cards

Avatar for colomom99
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
Finally good news about credit cards
4
Thu, 12-18-2008 - 6:47pm

Don't know if you've heard but today credit cards are being ordered to change some of their policies. The best one is that they will have to start applying payments to highest interest rather than lowest. This doesn't start until 2010 but still....I'll be paying my debt (unfortunately) well past 2010.

Jenny

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-26-2006
Thu, 12-18-2008 - 7:16pm

Where was this reported and what body of people have mandated the change in credit card policy (to apply payments to higher interest rate balances, for example)?

That would be great.

Recreating Myself

Avatar for colomom99
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
Thu, 12-18-2008 - 7:40pm
I heard it on the radio being reported by Fox News (not always reliable) but it is now up on their website and starting to show up on others. It was the Office of Thrift Supervision that approved the rules today and the Federal Reserve was expected to approve it also today. The main thrust of it is to prevent "rate-jacking" and give consumers more notice when a credit card company is going to raise interest rates. The way payments are applied is a secondary measure but probably more important to me as I have some cards with zero or low interest on part of a balance and higher interest on the remainder. I just discovered part of my balance on my BoA card had been shifted to cash advance and I had been paying something like 27 percent for months before I discovered it. When I called they acknowledged it was a mistake and promised to fix it. I noticed this month they moved most of the balance off the high rate but left some on -- also a mistake. Sigh. Guess I have to call them again.
Avatar for cl_beckymk
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Fri, 12-19-2008 - 7:59am

I heard some snippets of it but not the entire thing.


The one thing I caught was that they won't count you late until 30 days past due vs. jacking up your interest rate for being 1.5 seconds late like they do now.

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-07-2003
Fri, 12-19-2008 - 9:10am

Another poster posted this, but I see its fallen off the main page.... I thought this was a good article on the new regulations...


Teresa
http://www.affordingpickles.blogspot.com