How will the CARD act affect you? That depends.

[ClarkUSA]

Fact Sheet: Reforms to Protect American Credit Card Holders:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Fact-Sheet-Reforms-to-Protect-American-Credit-Card-Holders/

The CARD Act's crackdown on extremely high fees will severely curtail the ability of issuers to offer so-called "fee harvesting" credit cards -- cards with hefty upfront fees and extremely low credit limits -- geared toward people with bad credit, experts say... Issuers that do market cards geared toward consumers in the subprime market will have to strike a balance between charging enough to cover the increased risk and following the new law, according to Ken Paterson, vice president, research operations/director credit advisory service for Mercator Advisory Group, a consumer payments industry research and consulting firm... "One of the silver linings of the CARD Act is that it has built in more protections against some of the more egregious pricing that sometimes creeps into that market," Paterson says.

For most consumers, being able to get a balance transfer card that offers a 0 percent, 1 percent or 2 percent interest rate on a transferred balance for much more than a year will become a thing of the past... The CARD Act is going to have upward pressure on rates simply because the ability to adjust rates on outstanding balances is severely limited now... In the near future, interest rates on fixed rate low interest cards, as well as cards with low introductory rates, likely will go up several points, and issuers will be even more selective about who gets these cards, experts say.

"Low interest is a lot less desirable for most card companies because they don't have the ability to change rates as readily as they did in the past" because of the CARD Act, says Beth Robertson, director of payments research for consulting firm Javelin Strategy & Research... The Credit CARD Act imposes prepurchase disclosure of certain fees, such as inactivity fees, associated with prepaid cards -- and mandates that the cards not expire before five years.The new rules for prepaid cards -- including gift certificates, reloadable prepaid cards and gift cards -- go into effect Aug. 22, 2010.

"In the past, some expired after a year -- if you still had money on it, you lost it," Straessle says... The days of the big credit card issuers setting up tables on college campuses and offering free pizza to entice throngs of students to sign up for easy credit are over. The CARD Act prohibits that type of marketing and requires anyone under 21 to prove a source of income or have a parent co-sign to get a card.

"We probably will see fewer student cards out there because the CARD Act restricts a lot of it," says Greg Meyer, community relations manager for Meriwest Credit Union in San Jose, Calif., who predicts more issuers will offer debit and prepaid cards geared toward teens and young adults.

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/109236/how-the-credit-card-act-wil-affect-types-of-credit-cards?mod=bb-creditcards

[Berry Cool]

1. This is good stuff.

It's time someone reined in these ridiculous credit-card practices that amount to licenses to print money as far as banks are concerned.

[demosincebirth]

2. Won't affect me. I pay the balance off every month. Instead of writing checks

every month, I use my CC to pay bills as often as I can. Three or four time a year, my wife and I go out to dinner with the cash-back rewards from the CC company.

[ClarkUSA]

3. Me too. Only I spend my cash-back at Costco. n/t

[Meshuga]

4. I do the same.

The reward programs work well so I just use plastic to get the points and then pay it off.

[Kind of Blue]

5. Maybe now I can think about getting one. Haven't had

one in over 20years after paying it off. Always hated them because I was no good at handling credit cards or keeping up with or understanding the fine print.

KnR and Thanks for the info.

[ClarkUSA]

6. I've been pretty pleased w/my Costco - American Express card.

I have boycotted Wal-Mart for their GOP support since 2003. Costco is owned by socially-responsible liberals. I earn 3% cash back on gas & dining and 2% on travel. In the past three years since I got the card, I've gotten over $1000 cash back without paying a dime in finance charges. Of course, my balance gets paid off every month. I've turned my entire family and friends network onto the card. They all love it. And no, I don't work for either company.

If you want to check it out, here's more info: http://www201.americanexpress.com/sbsapp/FMACServlet?request_type=alternateChannels&lpid=317&openeep=26761&ccsgeep=32186&psboth=CCSG_Google_B_Costco

[Kind of Blue]

7. Wow, my sister was recently telling me of getting

a Costco card but she didn't give a review like this.

Thanks very much for the link. You've turned me on to it. Haven't been this excited over a card since my 20's :)

[ClarkUSA]

8. I only wish I had found out about it sooner.

You earn cash back everywhere you use it: groceries, department stores, etc. Mostly it's 3% cash back, but sometimes it's less, like with the 2% on travel expenses.

<<Thanks very much for the link. You've turned me on to it. Haven't been this excited over a card since my 20's >>

Just PM me next February when you get your cash back check to tell me how you're going to spend it, okay? I always load up on goodies at Costco that I normally pass by.

Another great aspect of the cash back: even if you just buy a slice of pizza, they'll still give you the balance of your check in cash. Costco doesn't force you to buy their stuff if you don't want to. How cool is that? :)

[Kind of Blue]

9. Oh, ClarkUSA, I sure will PM you.

I'm bookmarking this thread now!
See, this is why I love DU. People here like you make life a lot easier :)

[ClarkUSA]

10. Great! I'll be disappointed if you don't.

:hi: