MoneyWise :: Uncle Sam wants you to weigh in on credit card reform

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Released: March 18, 2010

Uncle Sam wants you to weigh in on credit card reform

Source: Michelle Singletary, Washington Post (Free Registration)

In what feels like never-ending regulatory fiddling with the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, the Federal Reserve wants to know what consumers think about certain fees that lenders charge as penalties for late payments or other issues.

To be fair, the Fed is only following Congress’s mandate, which ordered that the CARD Act’s provisions be implemented in three phases. The first went into effect last summer, the second in January. The final phase will take effect this summer.

The Fed has proposed several rules amending Regulation Z, the truth-in-lending provision. In addition to penalty fees, the rules would also require credit card issuers to reconsider increases in interest rates.

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