ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center
SOURCE: CNN
22August2010 10:05amEDT
GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Washington - New rules designed to protect credit card users from "unreasonable late payment and other penalty fees" come into force Sunday as a result of the Wall Street reform bill.
The rules block credit card companies from charging more than $25 for late payments except in extreme circumstances, prevent them from charging customers for not using their cards, and requires them to reconsider rate increases imposed since January 1, 2009, according to the Federal Reserve, which approved the regulations.
They are the final provisions of federal legislation that placed new restrictions on credit card interest rates and fees, completing the most comprehensive overhaul of the credit card industry in history.
The Fed's rules could result in lower interest rates for consumers.
Banks will have to reduce rates if the reasons for increases imposed in the last 20 months no longer exist, and regulators will review and enforce such cuts.
Consumers will most immediately notice the new penalty fee limit of $25. Reducing penalty fees was a central provision of the credit card law, but Congress left it to the Fed to determine how to do it.
