Many credit card holders will be able to breathe a sigh of relief as they receive favorable deals from credit card issuers prior to the new law taking effect in February 2010. As a way to clean up their image after hearing months of criticism from President Obama and Congress, major banks are now creating ways to help their consumers pay down debt and more.
Here's a little background. In May 2009, President Obama signed into law the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act (also known as the Credit CARD Act). The law was created to challenge the unfair practices of credit card companies (unexplained interest-rate hikes, double-cycle billing, etc.). As a result of this law, customers will be protected from interest-rate hikes based on specific delinquencies, they won't be charged for paying a certain way (by phone, online, etc.), and there will be no more mass-marketing strategies on college campuses.
While banks don't have abide by the law until next February, many are getting started early by offering special deals to help the consumer. Here are a few to take note of:
- Bank of America Visa Basic Card - Beginning October 2009, BOA will offer a new card with one fee for all transactions (i.e. balance transfers and cash advances) and will charge a flat late fee of $39, rather than basing it on the amount owed.
- Chase Blueprint Card - The Blueprint Card, introduced in September 2009, is designed to help consumers pay down debt by allowing them to determine which expenses they would like to pay off each month (i.e. groceries, gas, etc.). They will be able to select up to 14 categories of purchases to pay down; those categories will go interest free between the purchase date and bill due date.
After a year or more of "step-child" treatment from many credit card issuers, it's refreshing to see them working in the consumer's best interest. Let's just hope more issuers are willing to follow suit.
What do you think of these new credit card deals? Is it just another marketing scheme or are the banks really trying to help customers?
