Did someone send a Changeinterms.com sticker to Secretary Geithner? More great news today from AP:
“We need to change the rules of the game” to make the credit card business more transparent, fairer and simpler for consumers, Geithner told reporters after the meeting at the Treasury Department. “This administration and this Congress are committed to changing the system.”
Reuters also reporting good news:
President Barack Obama will sign wide-ranging, pro-consumer credit card reforms into law by late May, senior U.S. House Democrat Carolyn Maloney predicted on Wednesday.
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on May 1st, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Hot off the presses: The BIG Changes promised by Congress and signed off on by the President…they are on hold until July 2010.
http://washingtonindependent.com/40216/congress-delays-credit-card-reform
The Banks get there way EVEN when they are being punished and constrained by new laws. Isn’t that just amazing? All the bluster, all the intense committee meetings, the President bringing everyone together for a big media shoot..woohooo! And in reality, nothing will change for 14 months. Do you have any idea how much damage the credit card industry can do to us, in 14 months of unrestrained carnage? Of course you do…
The article below brings out the ugly truth that no one is hearing or listening to: Sure, change is coming, in 14 months. Oh btw, change was already going to start on July 2010 via previous legislation. This recent round of hand wringing and bill writing seems to have been, in some ways, a smoke screen, designed to make everyone look effective in congress and the white house. It cannot be denied that some powerful new restraints against CC companies will go into effect if these bills become new law; but it is also true that change was already mandated at the Federal Reserve, to take effect…drum roll please….JULY 2010!
http://washingtonindependent.com/40216/congress-delays-credit-card-reform
I hope this article is not correct, and this is not the final word. It is still possible the time frame could be moved up…we need relief from these predatory CC companies NOW…not in 14 months. However, from everything I’ve read online seems to validate the above article; BOTH the Senate and the House credit card reform bills will not take effect until July 2010. There is one exception, for some odd reason, the bill wants to enforce better notice of account changes…the much talked about ‘opt-out’…something along the lines of requiring 45 days notice. THAT will be enforced immediately, but no other parts of the bills. Ridiculous.
on May 2nd, 2009 at 7:59 am
I told you so
on May 2nd, 2009 at 9:13 am
This is all so depressing.. I really feel we are being held hostage by terrrorists….
The article cited states “Peter Garuccio, spokesman for the American Bankers Association, said the changes will require card issuers to reprogram computers, retrain call-center employees, verify the legality of the new policies and rework marketing strategies.”
Hmmm.. in Chase’s case, maybe programming wouldn’t take as much time if they weren’t sending all that IT work to India….
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/mar2009/gb2009039_431274.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_global+business
And besides that, allowing an opt-out is something they definitely know how to do, according to Clarke’s supposedly “out-dated” 2007 testimony.
Plus, they were able to handle adding that unprecedented $10 monthly servce fee and changing the minimum payment with no problem… followed by taking the fee away. So blaming this on technical difficulties is a bit of a smokescreen…
on May 2nd, 2009 at 9:22 am
re #3 – I meant “Carter Franke”… not “Clarke”
on May 2nd, 2009 at 5:43 pm
[...] a comment from Barbara, she quoted the following statement attributed to Peter Garuccio, a spokesman for the [...]