Congressman Alan Grayson joined a bipartisan group of Representatives to approve the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights Act. H.R. 627 is a comprehensive credit card reform package aimed at abolishing industry abuses that regulators have described as “unfair,” “deceptive,” and “anti-competitive.”
Congressman Grayson said, “There must be some way for the banks to make money without cheating people. This bill protects the consumer from predatory banking, just at the time when people need that protection the most.”
Credit card debt in the U.S. has reached a record high – nearly $1 trillion – and almost half of American families currently carry a balance. For those families the average balance was $7,300 in 2007. The Government Accountability Office reports that one-fifth of those carrying credit card debt pay an interest rate above 20 percent.
This bill will help protect American consumers by banning retroactive rate hikes on existing balances, increasing advance notice of future rate increases, and giving cardholders more control over their credit limits.
The Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights:
· Ends unfair, arbitrary interest rate increases
· Lets customers set their own fixed credit limit that cannot be exceeded
· Protects cardholders from due date gimmicks
· Ends unfair penalties for cardholders who pay on time
· Requires card companies to fairly credit and allocate payments
· Bars companies from issuing credit cards to vulnerable minors
· Requires Congress to provide better oversight of the credit card industry
· Contains NO rate caps, fee setting, or price controls
