Financial News

Everyone is feeling the pinch from the economic turmoil overshadowing the nation. Consumer confidence, spending, and relying on credit cards for purchases are down and big financiers are feeling the pain. According to Market Watch, both banks and credit card issuers are "imposing new fees and charges" that will be passed onto unsuspecting consumers.

Right now many American's are struggling to pay either off existing debt, save cash, or minimize their overall savings. With less spending activity, there is less profit to be made by the financial institutions so fees are the biggest contributing factor to filling the gaping hole being left by improved consumer spending habits. According to The Hammer Firm: late fees, loan origination, over-the-limit and overdraft charges contributed to a substantial 53% of all the banking industry's 2008 income and the trend is increasing.

Market Watch advises consumers to be especially wary of the following 10 fees:

1. Overdraft: By bouncing a check a whole slew of financial events can unravel and leave you bearing the financial burden. Establishing overdraft protection on your account will help mitigate the damage




2. Deposit returned: Rubber checks issued by someone else and deposited into your account will cost you. During these trying times there are more scams featuring bad checks so only taking checks from trusted sources is a smart idea.




3. Checking: By signing up for a free checking account and checking the fine print carefully, you can easily avoid hidden fees.




4. Teller: As more people use ATM machines these days, people are less aware of teller fees - however, some banks limit how many actual teller visits an account holder can have and if you go over the limit allowed you would be charged with excessive use of tellers for your transactions.




5. Inquiries: Those wanting to be on top of their finances may be charged for this luxury. By using the telephone too often to check on transactions, order new checks, and other inquiries you may get saddled with a fee.




6. Closing accounts: The money that consumers deposit at the bank is then used by the financial institution to conduct their business. If you open an account and close it quickly (anywhere up to a six month period) they may charge you since they were counting on using the money you had on deposit.




7. Credit cards: Grace periods of even 24 hours may become a thing of the past and issuers are sure to increase their late fees, interest, and over-limit charges to the new legal maximums.




8. Annual: Annual charges for the "privilege" of being a card holder are making a comeback so make sure your credit card company don't adopt this type of money making concept.




9. Currency conversions: If you're traveling and out of the country when you use your credit card you may be charged with conversion fees. However, you may not even notice this because the fee is already being included as part of the charge.




10. ATM: Already a sore spot with consumers, those who use out of network ATM's may get hit by dual charges both by your card issuer and the ATM provider.

For those concerned about additional fees and charges that may be coming your way, only by taking proactive measures can you avoid these fees. Read all information that comes from your credit card company, stay on top of your assets on deposit, and when taking advantage of "free"or promotional offers be very clear regarding the dates and terms involved with the agreement.

For years regulations on credit card companies have been quite loose and there have been much controversy among consumers who complained about hidden credit card fees and charges that had caused many consumers a lump sum of money. After 30 years of being able to go about business in whatever manner the credit card companies pleased, which oftentimes took advantage of unsuspecting credit card consumers by raising interest rates and the like, now Federal Regulators have moved to implement new credit card restrictions on credit card companies which will take into affect next year in July of 2010. This will help to protect consumers from getting the short end of the credit card stick.

In more detail the laws are being implemented to protect consumers from unsavory practices by the credit card companies and to ensure that theFederal Trade Commission Act is being adhered to. TheFederal Trade Commission Act is responsible for protecting consumers from "unfair and deceptive trade practices."

The new rules will prevent the credit card companies from:

• Allowing deceptive offers of credit
• Unjustly adding fees for issuing credit or making it available
• Placing inequitable time constraints on payments
• Charging too-high fees for exceeding the credit limit because of holds on the account
• Partaking in double-cycle billing practices

However, not everyone will benefit from the changes being implemented by the credit card company. Some exceptions to the rule are business credit cards, as they will continue to operate on a different set of guidelines and the new laws only apply to consumers. Additionally, the terms for the new rules do not specify those returning home from military duty to be a reason for not raising rates (although this exception is currently under review).

Check out the complete story on about new credit card laws.

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