Fed’s Credit Card Proposal Draws Criticism
Though the Federal Reserve Board announced plans last week to revamp rules so that monthly credit card bills would be easier to understand and consumers would get more warning when rates were being raised, consumer advocates said it doesn’t go far enough, the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday. Ed Mierzwinski, federal consumer program director at U.S. Public Interest Research Group said that no matter what minor fixes the Fed provides to disclosure rules, “those fixes will not solve the fundamental problems in credit card marketing that allow companies to change the rules at any time and impose retroactive interest rate increases. Under the Fed’s plan, companies would have to notify customers at least 45 days, not the current 15, before changing the terms of an account, like imposing higher penalties for missed or late payments.






