Consumer groups want Congress and federal regulatory agencies to make the following changes to credit card regulations:
— Include new personalized disclosure requirements in all credit card offers, including the credit limit, penalty interest rates, method of calculating the minimum monthly payment, related fees, the impact of two-cycle billing and universal default terms.
— Simplify credit card pricing by reducing the number of fees so consumers can better compare offers.
— Ban "elastic" contract terms that allow issuers to change terms for any reason, including no reason.
— Stop issuers from applying higher punitive interest rates to the entire existing balance, including past purchases made at a lower interest rate.
— Prohibit punitive "universal default" interest rates based on alleged missteps with another issuer but involving no missed payments to the credit card company itself.
— Prohibit over-limit fees when the issuer approves the over limit transaction.
— Require credit card companies to follow the system used by the Internal Revenue Service and accept the postmarked date as proof of on-time payments.
— Ensure that all fees and other charges closely match the true cost borne by the card issuer.
— Give consumers personalized minimum payment warnings on each monthly statement, calculating the length of time—in months and years—that it will take to pay off the debt, and the total interest costs that will accrue, if the cardholder makes only the minimum payment.
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