Changes to Credit Card Billing Practices
Complaints from consumers prompted Congress to take action on credit card reform. In an attempt to regulate the practices of credit card issuers, Congress passed and President Obama signed in to law legislation that will give consumers some protections.

• No more “two-cycle” billing. This tactic of computing interest charges based on the current and the previous billing cycles can result in consumers being charged interest on balances that have already been paid.
  
  
• Consumers must be given a reasonable amount of time to make payments, and rates cannot be increased until the borrower is at least 60 days past due on payments. The company must return to the lower rate once a borrower has been current on payments for six months.
  
  
• Issuers can no longer increase the interest rate on pre-existing balances except under very specific circumstances.
  
  
• Issuers must allocate payments to debt in a way that is at least as beneficial for consumers as for the issuers. For example, when borrowers have two different rates on one card—a lower one for purchases and a higher one for cash advances—the payment cannot be allocated entirely to the lower-rate debt to maximize the interest income the issuer can charge.
  
  
• Credit applicants under the age of 21 must provide proof of income or parental agreement to cover charges.
  
  
• Promotional rates must be given as promised unless borrowers are late or delinquent with payment.
  
  
• Fees that reduce available credit are to be limited, and borrowers will have to opt in to programs that allow them to charge over their credit limit (thus incurring over-the-limit fees).
  
  
• New transparency rules require that somewhere on a monthly bill there must be a description of how much the borrower has paid in interest and fees year-to-date as well as a the length of time it will take to pay off the debt if only the minimum payment is made each month.

Consumers may soon see changes to rates, billing cycles and credit limits. It’s best to read the fine print (which is legislated to be bigger now) and do the research to get the best card for you. And of course, GHCU offers highly competitive VISA credit cards.