Credit card companies aren’t always crystal clear about their fees & charges; D.C. is taking a hard look at the fine print and you should, too.

• President Obama is seeking reform on “credit card abuses” – practices that include misleading credit offers and extremely high interest rates.
• Congress is already working on legislation to combat certain fees and rate increases, but support from the White House should help these measures pass.
• Banks are wary of the plan, saying the government should wait for existing legislation to go into effect before pursuing more.

Facts & Figures

• There are already new rules limiting credit card rate increases, but they won’t go into effect until 2010.
• Among 21 of the biggest banks that received federal bailout money, overall lending decreased by 2.2% in February.
• Number of specific plans unveiled so far by the White House to deal with these issues: 0.
  

Best Quote

“As we go forward we need to be careful about piling on rules that very much may have the impact of restraining the availability of credit.” – Edward Yingling, President of the American Banker’s Association (tha banking industry’s lobbying group)

Tags: credit cards, Obama