Just picked this up from David Lazarus, Consumer Confidential column in the LA Times online...
Seems that the House approved HR 5244, which, according to Lazarus,
would, among other things, end card issuers' self-proclaimed right to change interest rates at any time. Instead, a 45-day notice would be required for any increase.
It also would give cardholders more time to pay by requiring issuers to mail bills at least 25 days before the due date, as opposed to the current 14 days.
The banks love the bailout bill at taxpayer expense, but it seems like they don't want to spread any of the love back to us...It also helps explain why JP Morgan Chase did not blink at buying WaMu's retail banking and credit card assets...
WaMu was a big-time promoter of credit card lines at favorable rates. I know this because my wife received an offer from WaMu to roll a good part of her BofA credit card debt (which BofA had raised the rates on without notice and no problems with her credit) into a WaMu line at a much lower rate....
I think we might soon see the WaMu card with a Chase logo and higher interest rate to go along with it...
The blood sucking vampires have got brassier balls than GWB and Cheney combined.
The whole reason the mortgage mess triggered was because the poorly underwritten ARM's reset when the Fed raised interest rates... meaning that people were suddenly faced with a much higher mortgage payment, etc. etc..... thus the current meltdown in the mortgage sector.
Now they want to stay the course with their predatory practices in the consumer credit side... even though Fed rates are low, they have no qualms charging 15, 18, 21 percent and higher on credit cards and raising the rates without ANY NOTICE until your bill arrives and you have 14 days to pay.
As Lazarus wrote...
Within minutes of the 312-112 vote approving the legislation, American Bankers Assn. President Edward Yingling issued a statement denouncing the move.
From that statement:
ABA STATEMENT ON HOUSE PASSAGE OF H.R. 5244
by Edward L. Yingling, president and CEO, American Bankers Association
"The American Bankers Association is very disappointed by the action today of the House of Representatives. The so-called "Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights" (H.R. 5244), while well-intentioned, will increase the cost of credit for consumers and small businesses across the country, result in less access to credit for consumers and businesses alike, and may further roil the securities markets – all at a time when our economy can least afford it.
"Legislation resulting in higher prices to consumers makes little sense at any time, let alone when global markets face the degree of turmoil that confronts them today. By limiting their ability to manage risk in making loans, this bill will force lenders to increase prices for everyone to compensate for that added risk. That’s unfair.
"Sometimes things that appear attractive on the surface often come with too high a price tag. Increasing prices for consumers, reducing low-cost credit alternatives for small businesses, and causing more ripples in the securitization market make little sense."
Seems to me we need to be letting our congress critters and Senators know how we feel about this whole "save my ass while I suck your lifeblood" mentality of the banks....