(Washington, DC) – Congressman Alan Grayson (FL-08) voted today to give Americans some much-needed relief from the unscrupulous actions of credit card companies. The bill, the Expedited CARD Reform for Consumers Act of 2009 (H.R. 3639), would move up the effective date for important credit card reforms from February 22, 2010 to December 1, 2009.
Congressman Grayson said, “The credit card companies brought this on themselves. Instead of preparing to end all of their tricks, they used the time we gave them to accelerate their abusive practices.”
A recent report by the Pew Charitable Trusts concluded that unfair or deceptive credit card practices continue as Americans wait for the new reforms to take effect. For example, interest rates climbed an average of 20 percent in the first half of the year on credit cards representing more than 90 percent of outstanding balances.
Congress originally responded to concerns from credit card companies and agreed to implement the consumer-friendly Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights next year. Since then, Congressman Grayson has received dozens of complaints by constituents, who saw their rates nearly double, their accounts closed for no reason, or their credit card limits cut.
“The companies said they needed the time to get their computer systems set up correctly. Instead, they used the time we gave them to do all the things banned by the Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights. They jacked up interest rates, raised fees, cut the grace period, and slashed credit limits. They forced us to crack down on them. We showed people that Congress can act with speed and determination when necessary to protect people from sleazy gimmicks,” Congressman Grayson said.
The new effective date of December 1st does not apply to prepaid gift cards (which are now all printed and on the way to retailers for the holiday season), and for small credit card companies with fewer than 2 million accounts. The six largest card issuers in the country control more than 80% of the credit card market.
The bill passed by a vote of 331-92.
