When Congress passed the Credit Card reform bill this past Spring it bowed to industry pressure and delayed enactment of the new regs for nine months. Signed into law in May by President Obama the bulk of the reforms mandated by the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility & Disclosure Act of 2009 won’t take effect until February 22nd, 2010.

credit_card_swipe.ju.03Card issuers insisted they needed that time to get their systems set to the new consumer-friendly rules; Congress agreed, with some admonishments that the grace period not devolve into a frenzied fee-grab. But to the surprise of no one seemingly but Congress, the card issuers did just that, using the window to raise interest rates and fees. …read more