If you’ve been the victim of some egregious credit card tactics, now’s your chance to speak out.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Ever find yourself going off on the customer service representative after a particularly steep credit card fee or unexpected rate increase? Well now is your chance to tell those who could ultimately change credit card laws in the United States.
Members of the Federal Reserve Board have proposed rules to protect consumers from unfair credit cards practices like unexpected rate increases and double-cycle billing, among other grievances. And they want to hear from you.
But while consumers are overwhelmingly in favor of the new rules, credit card issuers and banking industry lobbyists say the legislation will only hurt customers and small business owners. But the Fed is weighing arguments from both sides.
The rules are currently open to public comment under the Federal Trade Commission Act and so far over 12,000 people have chimed in.
The Board’s proposal includes some key protections for consumers that use credit cards, such as prohibiting banks from upping the rate on pre-existing credit card balances and applying payments in a way that maximizes interest penalties.
The proposal also requires banks to notify consumers if they are nearing their limit and let them opt out of overdrawing their accounts, before any fees are imposed.
Consumers would also be given a reasonable amount of time to make payments and payments would be applied to higher-rate balances first.
And, finally, an end to the “double-cycle” method, which averages out the balance from two previous bills, so you still get hit with retroactive interest even if you’ve paid off your balance.
“The proposed rules are intended to establish a new baseline for fairness…
