New Credit Card Legislation, CARD Act of 2009 Weekly Highlights

By Pinyo, on May 24, 2009

With all the buzz about the new credit card legislation which is formally known as the CARD Act of 2009, I think it’s a good idea to do a round up of articles that talk about this new law. But before we go to the articles, I just want to give you a brief overview of the CARD Act. CARD Act is short for Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009 (how clever). The Act is designed to increase transparency and reduce credit card related pitfalls. For example, it regulates billing, changes to payment due date, changes to interest rate, over the limit usage, etc.

Now, let’s go to the articles…

Patrick at Cash Money Life in his article Credit CARD Act of 2009 – Good or Bad? thinks the Credit CARD Act of 2009 is beneficial overall.  He likes the greater transparency, but doesn’t like the government getting involved.

Tough Money Love in his article The Problems with Credit Card Reform argues that this is not such a good idea. He gave 4 reasons as follow:

1. The government is on a crazed path towards taking over every aspect of our financial life
2. The new credit card rules are intended to benefit people who actually shouldn’t even be using credit cards.
3. People who use cards responsibly (by not carrying balances) are being punished
4. Attempt to encourage use of cash was beaten back by the credit card industry lobbyists.

Five Cent Nickel in his article Credit Card Reform: Inside the CARD Act of 2009 covers the key provisions of the Act. In his article, he covers rate increases, payments, punitive rates, universal default, notification, over limit fees, age restrictions, fees, and gift cards.

Green Panda Treehouse in her article Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights Act of 2009 also highlights eight key features of the Act in three categories:

• Existing Credit Card Balances and Payments
• Credit Card Interest Rates and Grace Periods
• Credit Card Account Provisions

Flexo of Consumerism Commentary in his article Congress Passes Credit CARD Act of 2009, Now What? highlights several key points including:

• Credit card companies must give 45 days notice before raising interest rates.
• Credit card companies must apply your payments to your highest interest rate balance first.
• Minors will not be able to own their own credit cards.
• Consumers will need to “opt in” to charge above their credit limit.

My Dollar Plan provides another summary in her article Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights Act of 2009.

Weekly Highlights

Now for the highlight. This week I wrote a guest post, Treat Your Personal Finances Like A Business, on The Dough Roller. In this article, I discussed the virtue of managing your personal finance like a business cash flow. Secondly, Moolanomy was named “Personal Finance Blog of the Week” by Passive Family Income. PFI said a lot of nice things about my blog, so please check it out. Lastly, I participated in a Subscriber Swap Saturday program started No Debt Plan. Please check out my interview on his blog.

Carnivals

I participated in several carnivals this week. Please check them out:

• Carnival of Financial Planning
• Carnival of Twenty Something Finances
• Carnival of Personal Finance
• Carnival of Top Personal Finance Posts
• Money Hacks Carnival
• Carnival of Pecuniary Delights

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Pinyo is the brain behind Moolanomy personal finance blog and a few other web sites. If you like this article, please subscribe for free daily email updates.

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