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Obama Pledges New Credit Card Rules

Thursday, April 23,2009 08:06 PM

I'm not always a fan of legislating every little thing but the recent turn of economic events and the stories that have surfaced about the credit card companies making out like Ebeneezer Scrooge with the rate hikes and fee increases and uncool limit lowering are making me feel like applauding this one:

Obama outlined the principles he wants in any legislation: Protections so that consumers won't face sudden, surprising jumps in fees; requirements that companies publish their forms in plainspoken language, with no more fine print; the availability of customer-friendly comparison shopping on credit-card offers; and greater enforcement so that violators feel the "full weight" of the law.

Now, we have a pretty handy comparison tool for business credit cards right here on our own site so we know it's possible for the CC companies to do it in a jiffy. Also, turning legaleeze into English would be nice as well as injecting a little sanity into the interest rate hike idea. And keeping their word on introductory rates. And maybe working harder to only offer credit cards to people who are credit worthy so the rest of us don't have to pay for their defaults. And basically acting like a partner instead of an adversary, I guess. But that's just me. Read more about it and then come back and let us know what you think: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103394106&ft=1&f=3