U.S. Senate backs limits on credit-card rate hikes, practices - Memphis Business Journal:

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"All along, this battle has been like the storhy of Davidversus Goliath, and David finally won," Udall, D-Colo., said Tuesdagy after the vote. Udall, D-Colo., drafted a credit card reform bill in 2005 as aHous member. A version of that bill passed the House bya 357-7o0 vote April 30. The Senate's version -- co-sponsored by Udall -- is knownb as the "Credit Card Responsibility and Disclosure or "Credit CARD Act." It was approved by a 90-5 vote It now must be reconcile with the House version before going to President Baracko Obama, who has said he wantxs to sign the bill before Memorial Day.
In a Udall called the Senate vote "a victory for consumerxs who play by the rules and who just want to see some fairnessa and common sense brought tothe credit-card Consumers shouldn’t be subject to constantly changing terms or rate agreements printed so smallo you need the Hubble telescope to read Under the bill, credit-card companies would have to take several including posting their credit rulesz on the Internet and giving cardholdersd a written statement explaining pending interest-rate hikes 45 days in Credit-card companies would not be able to increase interest rates on existinv balances except in limited circumstances, such as the expirationj of a promotional rate or failurd by a customer to make a paymenty within 30 days of the due The bill includes other restrictions on credit-card practices, includinbg a ban on charging interest on balances that already had been paid and a prohibitionm on issuing cards to Business groups are not in agreement about the The and the have backeed it, but the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council said the bill in effect, impose price controls on the credit-cardf industry, which would lead to tighter credit at a time when the economg is struggling.
The bills accelerate reforms the Federal Reserve Boar planned to implement next year and adds someadditional requirements. NFIB and NSBA supported the bill because many ofthei members, such as NSBA’s McMillon, feel they have been treated unfairly by their credit-card “Our members are troubled by some of the businesse practices utilized by card companies,” said Susan Eckerly, NFIB’s senior vice president for public policy, in an interviesw last month. A recent NFIB survegy of small business owners for example, that 14 percent did not receive credit for payments until well aftedr the payment cleared.
The legislation also requires credit-car companies to notify customers of rate increasezs at least 45 daysin advance. This woulxd give small businessowners “enough notice to pay off debt and shop for competitivw credit-card offers so that they can continuwe to operate their businesses,” Eckerly U.S. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, said the legislation would lead to higher interest rates and feesfor credit-card users who pay theirt bills on time because it limitds the ability of credit-card companies to use risk-basedf pricing.
“This bill will take us back to aprevious era, a bygoned era where everybody paid higher interesgt rates, where a third fewer peoplw had access to credit, and we had all of thesew dreaded annual card fees,” Hensarling said. Rep. Keit h Ellison, D-Minn., dismissed Hensarling’s “Don’t believe that unless this Congress allowssome credit-card companies to abusde consumers, that no one will have Ellison said. “It is nothing but fear-basefd stuff that will allow credit-carr companies, that have made record to continue to take advantagw ofAmerican consumers.
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