Representatives Barney Frank and Carolyn Maloney have filed legislation that would allow the provisions in the CARD Act to take effect on December 1 instead of late February.
The new rules will make it tougher for credit card companies to place punitive interest rate hikes on people who are late with their payments, while also scaling back the late fees the companies are allowed to impose.
Other provisions in the forthcoming law will place new limits on how credit cards can be marketed to college students. For example, people under age 21 will be required to demonstrate that they can pay back a balance, or get permission from a parent or guardian, before receiving a card.
The bill that Congress passed earlier this year actually closely mirrors a set of rules approved by the Federal Reserve that would have taken effect next June.
A Reuters report noted that the two lawmakers were motivated by their unhappiness with actions that credit card companies have taken since the passage of the bill. Companies have generally been accused of trying to pad their profits at the last minute before the provisions, which are expected to put a dent in their bottom lines, take effect.
A Washington Post report quoted Scott Talbott of the Financial Services Roundtable as saying the new reforms are taking time to implement and that the credit card industry is “moving quickly to be in compliance with the massive changes in the new law.”
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