The new credit card rules...H.R. 627

The Credit CARD Act of 2009 phases in, with the majority of consumer protections kicking in Feb. 22, 2010. If you are into reading lengthy government documents, click on the blog post title and you will be redirected to the 33 page, HR 627 document entitled: ‘‘Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009’’

If you'd rather just see a brief summary... here you go:

The act limits when credit card companies can increase interest rates and also bans billing and payment practices that the FTC deems "unfair or deceptive". The bill contains a significant limitation and explanation of when an issuer can raise interest rates on existing balances ( retroactive rate increase)...Issuers must give 45 days notice of a significant change in terms with the option to "opt-out"...smonthly statements must be sent out at least 21 days prior to due dates...no more Universal default -- the practice of increasing card users' interest rates based on their payment records with unrelated accounts, such as utilities or other credit cards -- is banned for existing credit card balances....you must now be given the option to Opt-In to overlimit fees, if you choose not to opt-in, your over limit charge attempt will be declined rather than approved, (so you won't get over limit fees applied)...

The above summary only details a small portion of what the bill regulates...if you have any credit cards (and who doesn't), it may pay to print out and read the entire bill.

I hope this is helpful to you