The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights this afternoon, and the Senate is next. The vote was 357 to 70, and we haven't seen too many votes like that in Congress these days.
However, this is a bill whose time has come. Consumers are fed up with credit card companies arbitrarily raising credit card interest rates, including those for purchases already made. Some of the reforms in the bills before Congress were enacted by regulation by the Federal Reserve in December, but they don't take effect for another 14 months.
As a result, the credit card companies are pushing through higher rates, lower limits and other decidedly consumer unfriendly rules before the Fed's rules kick in. This, in return, puts the individuals and credit card holders under huge credit card debt.
This bill could have been law last year, but Senate Republicans blocked passage, trying to tie the bill to other finance legislation. Hopefully the broad support from the public - as well as very public backing from President Obama - will make a difference.
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