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Credit Card Issuers Will See Limits on Fees

By John Rasor

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 03Aug2009
Word count: 423
Viewed: 204 time(s)

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Credit card issuers make a lot of money from fees, but that money stream will be slowing down once the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights comes into effect.

One of their favorites has been over limit fees. When you went into a store and charged just a few dollars too much, they'd approve the charge - but then hit you with a fee. And if you then went into another store and made another charge - you'd get another fee. If you didn't pay attention, this could really add up.

Now it saved you the embarrassment of being turned down in public, but it was expensive!

After February, you'll have the right to opt out of that "service" so that you will no longer incur over limit fees. If you don't pay attention, you will be turned down in public, however.

Then, if the card holder chooses to keep the right to go over limit, card issuers will be limited to one over limit fee per billing cycle - which could save some consumers a great deal of money.

Next, the fees for making a payment over the phone or internet are going away. Some credit card issuers already allow on line payments at no charge, but most charge a fee for a phone payment. Sometimes as much as $15. Banks will still be allowed to charge for "expedited" payments, so do pay attention to your due dates and make sure that if you pay on line or on the phone you do it the day before your due date, or at least in the morning on that day.

Mailed in payments that arrive on the due date, or the next day if the due date falls on a day when no mail is delivered to the bank, must be accepted with no fees. In addition, payments made at your local bank branch must be credited on the day they are made.

Card issuers will also be required to send your statements sooner - 21 days before the due date - which will make it easier for consumers who mail their payments to get them back to the bank on time.

These changes don't take effect until February 2010, so be careful in the meantime about going over limit or making a payment late. They're going to be busy gathering as many profits as possible before the new laws kick in.

Regardless of the fees for going over the credit limit, the impact on your credit scores is far greater. Plain and simple, dont do it!

http://www.creditscorecowboy.com is the #1 source on the planet for a free credit report, identity theft software and a blog with a wealth of information writtten by lending professionals that know about credit and what determines ones creditworthiness.

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