Congress Sends Obama Bill To Tighten Credit Card Regulation

[babylonsister]

Congress Sends Obama Bill To Tighten Credit Card Regulation
By Phil Mattingly, CQ Staff


Riding a wave of public anger, the House cleared legislation Wednesday that would curb a number of credit card practices that the White House and consumer advocates have denounced as abusive.

President Obama had urged lawmakers to send him the bill (HR 627) before they started their Memorial Day recess at the end of this week. He is expected to sign it swiftly.

The Senate passed an amended version of the measure Tuesday by 90-5. The House accepted the Senate amendments Wednesday afternoon, thus sending the bill to the White House.

The bill would generally bar interest rate increases on existing balances unless a card-holder has failed to make even a minimum payment for 60 days. It would outlaw double-cycle billing, require 45 days’ notice before any interest rate increase and prohibit interest rate increases anytime in the first year that an account is activated.

The legislation also would require card companies to apply a consumer’s monthly payment to the debt with the highest interest rate.

more...

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=news-000003121942

[regnaD kciN]

1. Didn't this happen some time ago...?

The article is dated June 5, but it mentions the "Memorial Day recess at the end of this week," which was two weeks ago.

:wtf:

[babylonsister]

2. Yes, this is a corrected version. This is the corrected para.:

The legislation also would require card companies to apply a consumer’s monthly payment to the debt with the highest interest rate.

My error for thinking they were updating the bill more than that.