WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama said Thursday he is
determined to get a credit-card law that eliminates the tricky fine
print, sudden rate increases and late fees that give millions of
consumers headaches.
"I trust that those in the industry who want to act responsibly
will engage with us in a constructive fashion, and that we're going
to get this done in short order," Obama said, delivering a pointed
message to leading executives of credit-card issuing companies
after a closed-door White House meeting.
Both the House and the Senate are pursuing bills to give
consumers greater protections as an expansion of new rules slated
to take effect next year. Obama said his economic advisers will
examine the various proposals and work with Congress and the
industry, but he made clear he intends to sign a law.
"The days of any time, any reason rate hikes and late fee traps
have to end," Obama said.
Industry executives left the White House without talking to
reporters.
At issue is how to protect consumers, particularly in a severe
recession, while not imposing the kind of rules that could make it
harder for banks to offer credit or put credit out of reach for
many borrowers.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said that in the
meeting, the company leaders told Obama that the credit-card
regulation already ordered by the Federal Reserve "is probably
enough." Yet Obama wants more.
He outlined the principles for any legislation: Protections so
that consumers won't face sudden, surprising jumps in fees;
requirements that companies publish their forms in plain-spoken
language, with no more fine print; the availability of
customer-friendly comparison shopping on credit-card offers; and
greater enforcement so that violators feel the full weight of the
law.
The president made no mention of the responsibility of consumers
to keep themselves from getting overextended.
As one possibility, Obama said it may help if all credit-card
issuers offer a basic, "plain-vanilla" card as a default option
for consumers.
The president also acknowledged the importance of credit cards;
almost 80 percent of U.S. households have one.
Credit cards often serve as a vital source of liquidity, both
for individuals and small businesses.
"We are confident that we can arrive at something that
commonsensical, something that allows the industry to continue to
provide loans and to run a stable business model that's not
dependent on bubbles, that's not dependent on people getting
overextended," Obama said.
Credit-card debt has increased by 25 percent in the past 10
years, reaching $963 billion by January, according to figures
released by the White House. The average outstanding credit card
debt for households that have a credit card was $10,679 at the end
of 2008, according to CreditCard.com, an online marketplace
designed to link consumers and card issuers.
The day before the meeting, Kenneth Clayton, senior vice
president for card policy at the Americans Bankers Association,
said emerging legislation may make economic matters even worse by
shrinking lenders' ability, resulting in "less credit available to
vast numbers of Americans" at just the wrong time.
The Federal Reserve has already ordered new rules, to take
effect July 2010, that are designed to enforce a host of new
consumer protections.
On Thursday, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Banking
Committee, and another panel member, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.,
wrote a letter asking the Federal Reserve, the Office of Thrift
Supervision and the National Credit Union Administration to enforce
those rules immediately.
The effect would be put emergency freeze on interest rates tied
to existing balances on credit cards. A Federal Reserve spokeswoman
said the Fed received the letter and was considering the issues
raised in it.
In a previous blog, “A Runners Wife” I spoke about my husband training for the NYC marathon. All I have to say is that the months of training all came together of an amazing race. Race day is a grueling day for runners, and the family. But a miracle happened...
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder testified before the senate judiciary committee and basically shrugged when asked if any other enemy combatant captured overseas had ever been brought to civilian criminal court to face justice. Talk about an incompetent boob, not to mention a disgrace.
Here is a list of wines all from Spain, and menus from restaurants in Brooklyn where a crew of us did a food / wine crawl through Carrol Gardens and Williamsburg recently
E-Mail Story
Print Story
