Posts by Ed Kountz from July 23, 2008

Ed Kountz | July 23, 2008, 07:49 AM
Fed Seeks Comments on Proposed Cards Rule Changes

The public comment stream on rule changes regarding bank and credit card practices, proposed by the Federal Reserve in May 2008, is live here.

LINK

Thus far, the Board has received a total of some 19,000 comments on the Fed’s proposed rules. Among other changes, those proposals would prevent rate increases on pre-existing credit card balances, except under limited circumstances, allow consumers to apply payments in excess of the minimum to high-rate balances first, eliminate two-cycle billing (in which interest charges are calculated based on balances across the current and preceding cycle), and set a minimum-mailing requirement, giving consumers at least 21 days in possession of a bill until a balance is due.

JupiterResearch tracks a wide variety of consumer attitudes regarding their cards, other payment products and their issuers. Sometimes the data is inconclusive. However, when we asked consumers to what extent they agreed with the statement: “I would like my credit card issuer to better explain its fees and fee policies,” 27 percent of online users agreed, and 19 percent strongly agreed. By contrast, just 14 percent of online users disagreed or strongly disagreed. Not surprisingly, in that light, a good portion of the comments available via that link are in favor of the proposed rule changes.

The proposed rules are now open to public comment, but only until Aug. 4.