Credit Card Industry Faces New Rules

Credit Card Industry Faces New Rules

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/17/AR2009081702636.html

The first phase of the credit card legislation signed by US President Barrack Obama is expected to be applicable from this week. The rules will force the credit card issuers to provide their customers with more time to pay their bills and before raising the interest rates. From this week credit card firms need to give a notice of 45 days to their customers before raising interest rate. The customers on their part can choose to pay the amount owed by them at the original rate but will not be able to use the card for any further transactions. The credit card issuers will now have to mail the bill 21 days before the due date instead of the current 14 days. The firms also have the right to increase the minimum amount due as a percentage of the total balance to double the present value. These provisions are expected to make life tough for the credit card firms whose performance has already been impacted by the rising number of delinquencies.