The new Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act or “Credit CARD Act” was signed into law on May 22nd. The changes that will come into effect February 2010 are:
- Retroactive rate increases are banned except when a cardholder is more than 60 days late.
- Credit card issuer must review the cardholder’s account six months after increasing their interest rate, and return the APR to the previous level if the cardholder has been on-time with payment.
- Rates cannot be increased within the first 12 months, and promotional rates must have a minimum of 6 months in duration.
- Advance notice of 45 days prior to significant changes in credit card terms.
- Over credit limit fees are now prohibited unless consumers specifically agree to allow transaction to go through instead of being denied.
- Bills must be sent out no later than 21 days before the due date.
- Payments must be credited as on-time if the payment is received by 5:00pm on the due date.
Credit unions are member-owned, nonprofit organizations that have a stated goal of providing services for their membership. It is for that reason that Heart of Louisiana Credit Union offers Platinum Visa Credit Cards to their members at a low as rate of 7.9% fixed APR based on credit score. They also have no annual fees, no balance transfer fees and no minimum finance charge. It is the same rate for purchases, cash advances and balance transfer fees.
