信用卡改革 持卡人如何应对?

JACKI LYDEN, host:

All right, credit card holders, listen up: Tomorrow, new rules will take effect that will change the relationship between you and your card issuer. The changes are part of the Credit Card Act of 2009. When Congress passed it last spring, its basic goal was to end what consumer groups called unfair and deceptive business practices. Critics say the heavier regulations will make credit cards more costly for good customers.

Joining us to explain is NPR's senior business editor Marilyn Geewax. Welcome, Marilyn.

MARILYN GEEWAX: Good morning.

LYDEN: So lots of us have plastic in our wallets. I'm thinking credit covers just about everyone over 11. What's going to be different tomorrow?

GEEWAX: Well, there's going to be this new law that'll impose a lot more consumer protections, and the focus is on ending unexpected fees and interest rate hikes. Congress passed this just a few months in to the new Obama administration.

A few of the new rules took affect last year but major provisions are being phased in on Monday.

LYDEN: Now, you know, as we know, it's not easy to get Congress to act. So they must have had a lot of complaints from credit card holders.

GEEWAX: It is amazing all the different ways that credit card companies figured out how to infuriate their customers. They felt they were tricked. They felt they were abused. The main thing that made people crazy was that issuers would extend credit to their customers and then retroactively raise the interest rates on existing balances.

So people felt like, you know, a deal wasn't a deal. You'd borrow under one set of terms only to get an ugly surprise when you found out your bank pushed up the interest rate on purchases that you made a long time ago. Customers just felt bewildered.

You'd get these statements. And if you've ever read the fine print, they pretty much look like ancient hieroglyphics. The average person just couldn't figure out what it had even said.

So the new law is supposed to fix some of those problems. And there are studies that estimate the new regulations should save consumers about $10 billion a year.

LYDEN: Well, I'm sure a lot of people are eager to hear just how. How does the law do it?

GEEWAX: Well, again, the primary goal here is just eliminating the unexpected. So in most cases, the law is going to prohibit those retroactive interest rate hikes that I just mentioned. And you'll have to get a 45-day notice before they can raise your interest rates going forward. And that gives you the time and the right to close those accounts and payoff your old balance under the old terms.

The law also changes some other things. It'll require the issuers to disclose how long it's going to take you to pay off that entire balance, if you just make that minimum monthly payment. Most people really don't realize how much that's going to cost them.

And then the billing due date is going to have to be the same day every month. It's no more of that suddenly moving it up three days to trick you and get you to pay the late fees.

LYDEN: You know, this seems like such a reasonable step. What is the criticism?

GEEWAX: There are people who fear that if you have tougher regulations, you're going to make credit more costly even for good customers. Because, think of it this way, if an issuer can't make money by retroactively raising interest rates, well, then what can they do? Maybe they'll raise fees and we're already starting to see there are a return to those annual fees that used to be charged.

Remember, before in the 1990s, credit card issuers often would have what they'd call a membership fee. Every year, you'd have to pay whatever, $50. and those went away. Now they might come back. There could also be things like inactivity fees that get imposed.

LYDEN: Wait just a minute. Fees for inactivity, meaning if you don't use it...

(Soundbite of laughter)

LYDEN: ...you get charged, too?

GEEWAX: Just for keeping the account open. And they have paperwork to do, so they might just charge you fees for not using your credit card. But, you know, this is a free market. If you don't like the terms that you're offered, but people really need to shop around. And one example is credit cards issued by credit unions often have better terms. So shop around and get the best rate that you can.

LYDEN: Is there anything in this law to cap interest rates? I just remembered some of those ginormous interest rates, which caused such outrage.

GEEWAX: Well, yeah. No, there isn't. As long as the issuers let you know in advance that interest rates are going to go up, they can raise them as much as they want. And that's just part of this free market idea that if interest rates go up across the board, well, then they'll probably go up for card as well.

LYDEN: Well, won't be looking forward to that.

NPR senior business editor Marilyn Geewax, thanks for explaining this one.

GEEWAX: Well, you're welcome.